Matched Pair
by Living Masquerade
Summary: It's Rose's 7th year at Hogwarts and she has been named Head Girl. But being head girl is not enough for her, she also wants to become an animagi. She's not the only one. When McGonagall suggests she work with Scorpius Malfoy things get interesting.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Author's Note: I struggled for a while on whether to post this story or not. It is almost finished, but before I take the time to finish it I want to see if there is actually an interest in it. If you've read my stories before you know that I've mostly written Twilight stories, but the truth is that Harry Potter is my true love. However, I've been afraid to write stories about Harry Potter because I didn't want to mess anything up because I love the series so much. So here's my little dabble into the world of Harry Potter.**

After six years of coming to platform 9 ¾ with my family, I had easily slipped into a routine. However, as the four of us made our way further onto the platform to join up with my aunt, uncle and cousins I was struck by the fact that this my last time doing this as a student.

"Rose, are you alright?" My mother asked worriedly as she placed a comforting hand on my shoulder.

I nodded and continued to look around the platform. A sense of nostalgia hit me as I looked around at the hustle and bustle of parents and their children who eagerly awaited their return trip to Hogwarts.

"I can't believe Albus and Rose are already seventh years!" My aunt Ginny sighed. "It seems like just yesterday we were putting them on the train for the first time."

My dark haired cousin and I exchanged a look. We were both used to the attention by now, even though Albus' older brother and a few of our cousins had graduated before us.

My uncle Harry rolled his eyes at his wife who was currently embarrassing the hell out of my cousin as she caressed his wild black hair, "Ginny, you're embarrassing the boy."

Aunt Ginny removed her hand from Albus' hair; then quickly turned her attention to Lily. Albus took that as his cue to quickly say his goodbyes to his father and ducked onto the train before anyone else could say something to him.

"Blast it!" Aunt Ginny sighed once she realized Albus had slipped away. "Well, since Albus has shirked his duties as an older brother, will you help Lily with her stuff, Harry?"

While the Potter family was busy settling their affairs I turned my attention back to my own family. My mother was currently giving Hugo a mini lecture reminiscent to the ones I had heard her give my Father in the past when it came to table manners and too much time spent on Quidditch. I chuckled at that and turned my attention to my Dad.

"Are you too embarrassed to give your Dad a hug?" He asked carefully.

"Of course not." I replied before I wrapped my arms around him.

When I pulled away I took my time looking over his face. His hair was slowly turning white around the edges, but as he told my mother…at least he wasn't going bald.

"Oh Rosie! I'm going to miss you!" My Mother exclaimed just as she always did on September first and pulled me into her arms for a big hug. And as usual she gave me her customary mini lecture. "Watch out for your brother, do your best and write home."

With that said Hugo and I made our way on to the train, promptly going different directions once we were on.

It didn't take me long to find my best friend in a compartment all by herself. Carmen Davies had been my best friend since our first train ride when we had collided in the corridor. We had both been extremely embarrassed, but after spending the entire ride in the same compartment we had immediately become friends.

Carmen looked up as I entered and shot me a huge smile. As usual she looked fantastic thanks to her Latin blood. Carmen's Dad, Roger Davies, had been the Ravenclaw Quidditch captain back in the day and after he had graduated from Hogwarts had made a trip to Spain where he met Carmen's mother, a beautiful Spanish witch. All of the Hogwarts boys fancied themselves in love with her and it was easy to see why with her long dark hair, exotic eyes and amazing body.

Meanwhile I was stuck with auburn hair that unfortunately decided to be curly like my Mother's. Thankfully Carmen's mother had taught me a method to smooth out the frizzies and I had used it ever since. As for my eyes, they were the color of my Mother's and hardly exotic. I had pale white skin and my body was anything but amazing.

"Yet again I wonder why I am your best friend." I laughed as I looked her over.

"Oh shut up, Rosie." Carmen shot back. "I may be an exotic beauty, but you are the English rose."

"Ha ha." I rolled my eyes, quite used to the pun she liked to use on me every time we had this conversation.

"Anyway, I have news." Carmen announced as I pulled out my school clothes. Carmen was already dressed in hers, taking the demure school skirt to a whole new level with her long tan legs sticking out from it.

"What?"

"My parents have done it again."

"Done what?"

"My Mother is pregnant again!" She screeched.

"Oh…"

Carmen was the oldest Davies child at the age of seventeen followed by five other siblings. Only three of which were in Hogwarts. She had a brother who was two years behind us and twin sisters who were in their second year. At home she had a nine year old brother and a six year old sister.

"Seventeen years, Rose. That's how much older I will be than this baby! My Dad was about to go get one of those muggle vasectomies but my Mom just couldn't keep her hands off him and now I'm going to be back on diaper duty again!"

"Not necessarily, you're going to graduate this year and you can move out."

"Don't count on it. Even if I do…they'll call me to babysit because I'm the oldest."

"Well you're of age now, you can say no."

"True…however, this does not change the fact that I still have a duty as a sibling to take care of this sibling along with my other five siblings. Be thankful you only have Hugo to worry about."

"Hugo is enough."

As I changed into my school clothes, Carmen continued to mutter about her parent's inability to use simple contraception charms and muggle preventatives.

Once I was finished I sat down across from Carmen and worked on getting her into a better mood. It didn't take long. All I had to do was remind her of what we had to look forward to this year and that perked her right up.

"Hello my lovely Ravenclaws."

We both looked up to see Derek Zabini standing in the doorway of our compartment with a grin on his face. He was completely Slytherin, not that that bothered us Ravenclaws too much. Slytherin were our only real intelligent match in this school, and Derek Zabini was one of the most intelligent Slytherins of our year.

"Zabini." Carmen acknowledged with a nod in his direction.

I silently chuckled at that. These two had been in constant competition since our very first day at Hogwarts. Not only did they compete in the classroom, but their competition extended out onto the Quidditch field where they both played as chasers for their respective house teams.

"Davies." He replied. "Weasley, the Head boy is looking for you. As head girl, I shouldn't have to be the one to remind you of your duties."

"We've only been on the train for ten minutes, Zabini. I'm hardly shirking my duties." I said coolly. "Who is head boy, by the way?"

"I guess you'll find out, won't you?"

With that he walked away as if he didn't have a care in the world. Carmen rolled her eyes with a long sigh once he was out of sight and turned to me.

"Don't worry about me; you should go find the head boy so you aren't accused of shirking your duties."

"Alright, I'll see you at the feast." I replied before I left the compartment and headed towards the compartment that I had been informed in a letter a few weeks prior as to where we would be meeting.

It didn't take me long to get there and once I did I wasn't too surprised by what I found inside. Inside sat the head boy, Scorpius Malfoy. Unlike our best friends, there was no competition between the two of us even though we were tied for the top of our class. It was also surprising that we got along considering who our parents were and the history there was between our families. However, after I had been warned away from him my first year of Hogwarts I had actually sought him out with a warm smile in our Transfiguration class.

He had been wary of me at first, telling me that his Father warned him away from Weasleys, Potters, and Gryffindors in general, especially ones with red hair. I had quickly pointed out the fact that my hair was not the typical carrot Weasley red, I was a Ravenclaw and I had been warned away from his as well. We weren't friends, but we weren't enemies. We respected each other, especially because we were so equally matched as far as school work went. Scorpious was also a member of the Slytherin Quidditch team as a seeker, but I had no interest in playing myself.

"How is it that you knew I was head girl, but I didn't know until now that you were head boy?" I asked curiously as I walked into the compartment and slid the door shut behind me.

"I'm a Slytherin Rose; we have a way of finding things out."

I rolled my eyes at him and took a seat across from him.

"The prefects are set to arrive in a few minutes. And I couldn't help but notice that your brother was absent from the list of new fifth year prefects."

"Shut up, it is no surprise to anyone that my brother is not a prefect." I laughed. My parents had not been too thrilled that he had not been chosen as a prefect like they both had been back in their fifth years, but the fact that I had been chosen as head girl had taken attention off of Hugo.

Scorpius laughed, "Your brother is everything that my Father warned me of the first time I stood on the platform. A red headed, Gryffindor named Weasley."

I rolled my eyes at him. I knew he had no real quarrel with any of my family members despite what others thought thanks to our parents' history. In fact, now that I thought about it, Scorpius had no enemies in the school. He was well respected by all, which was quite a feat for a Malfoy. I attributed this to the influence of his Mother; who was one of the most respected philanthropists in Wizarding England and beyond.

"Did you have a nice summer break, Weasley?" He asked kindly.

"Yes, it was quite nice besides all of the Quidditch games I was dragged along to." I replied.

Scorpius quirked a brow, "All of your family plays Quidditch as well as your best friend and you still hate it?"

"I put up with it." I replied simply. "I take after my Mother in that regard. I hate brooms."

"What kind of witch are you?" He asked jokingly.

"One that likes to keep her feet firmly planted on the ground."

At that point prefects started to arrive, cutting off any more conversation between the two of us.

Xxx

When I finally rejoined Carmen at the Ravenclaw table in the Great Hall she was lecturing her twin sisters, who were also Ravenclaws, in what was a mix of English and Spanish. After seven years of friendship I was able to understand what she was saying. She would kill me if I said it out loud, but when she did this to her siblings, she sounded just like her mother.

"…now sit down and eat!"

I slipped in beside her at the table and took a drink of pumpkin juice before Carmen turned to me, muttering in Spanish.

"So what did they do?" I asked curiously, having not caught the reason for Carmen's ire during her lecture.

"Only twelve years old and they were already kissing a boy in the hallway!"

I just about spat my pumpkin juice out of my mouth. Thankfully I did not embarrass myself and instead choked. Once I could breathe again I turned astonished eyes on my best friend. "Kissing the same boy?"

"They were taking turns kissing some third year boy from Hufflepuff! After I restrained myself from kicking his arse, I sent him on his way and dragged the two of them in here."

"It seems the twins are taking after your aunts. Thank Merlin they're not identical."

Carmen sighed, "Tell me about it. At least after this year, they become Roger's problem, not mine."

I nodded in agreement and set about eating my dinner. I watched politely as first years were sorted and then did my job to help greet our newest Ravenclaws into the fold. After the feast was over, I met up with Scorpius in the hallway and the two of us made our journey up to the head's quarters before we started our first night of rounds.

"Davies seems more stressed out than normal." Scorpious remarked casually as we headed up the marble staircase towards our quarters.

"What makes you say that?"

"She usually isn't lecturing her siblings this early in the year in a mix of Spanish and English." He chuckled.

I nodded, "Her parents are having another baby and apparently her sisters are turning out to be a little promiscuous."

Scorpius quirked a brow and with a purely Malfoy smirk said, "It looks like the Davies are the new Weasley family, seeing as how none of your uncles or your aunt have had enough children to match that of their parents."

"Was that an insult?" I asked carefully. I personally did not take offense to it, because it was true. My grandparents had had seven children, but so far none of their children had surpassed four children.

"So what number will this Davies be?" He asked.

"Number six. I doubt there will be any afterwards."

"You never know, we all know that Carmen's mother is quite a beauty."

I rolled my eyes. During our first year, all the boys at Hogwarts had established Carmen's Mom as a MILF, a term coined by muggles and introduced to Hogwarts by a muggleborn a few years ahead of us. Carmen hated that kid immensely our first year and I was pretty sure that hate was still alive, just as the rumors of her Mom as a MILF were still alive in Hogwarts.

"A MILF if I do recall correctly," Scorpius grinned "is a Mom I'd like to-"

"Oh look! We've arrived!"

Sure enough our portrait of a unicorn hung on the wall before us. Scorpious quickly recited our password, Hippogriff, and the two of us entered our common room. It was a beautiful mix of Ravenclaw and Slytherin, the navy blue and green contrasting nicely. There was a large blue couch that faced the fireplace and two green arm chairs on each side. At the back of the room were two staircases, each of which lead to a bedroom and bathroom.

"Well should we start our duties then?"


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

The first few months of school passed by rather quickly. Besides receiving numerous letters from my Mother pressuring me to push my brother to study for his OWLS and for me to continue to study for NEWTS, I settled into my role as Head girl just fine.

Scorpius and I got along well living in the same quarters. We mostly stayed out of each other's way, but on a few occasions we had to stand in between our two best friends when they dropped in at the same time. It was actually quite amusing to us, but to Carmen and Derek it was anything but.

It was the first day of November when I sat down next to Carmen for breakfast and she smacked down a piece of parchment in front of me.

"What's this?"

"Just read it." She said miserably.

_Carmen,_

_Hola sweetheart. Your father and I have found out the most wonderful news. First I am sure you will be relieved to hear that your Father finally went through with that muggle procedure. I know how you feel about the number of siblings you have acquired over the years; however, I hope you will not be too upset when I tell you that I am carrying twins again. They are both boys and unlike the girls, the healer seems sure that they are most likely identical. Please tell your brother and sisters._

_Love,_

_Mama_

"Identical twin boys, Rose! Identical!"

"Well, at least after them you won't be getting anymore."

"It only took them seven children to get to it!" She yelled in exasperation, causing nearly every head in the great hall to turn our way. As head girl all I had to do was shoot a few looks and the majority of the crowd looked the other way once again.

"I mean…couldn't my Dad just keep it in his pants?"

"Your Mom is such a MILF, Carmen!" Jeremy Finnegan called from a few people down; obviously he had been listening in.

"Shut your mouth, Finnegan, before I come over there and shut it for you!"

"Go ahead, I don't mind; you look just like your hot Mama." He replied with a smirk.

"That's it!" Carmen yelled jumping to her feet.

I immediately grabbed her arm and tried to tug her back down, but she was too strong for me. As head girl I could quickly end this thing, but it was a little hard when I wanted to beat the kid's face in just as much as my best friend did. Thankfully I was saved from having to restrain my friend as her brother marched over from the Gryffindor table and punched Finnegan in the face before I could do or say anything to stop him. Not that I really wanted to anyway. However, I was duty bound to pull Roger off Jeremy.

Scorpius was on his way over as well as a few teachers when I grabbed Roger's arm and tugged him away from the bleeding Jeremy Finnegan.

"What is the meaning of this Miss Weasley?" Professor McGonagall asked as she arrived at our side.

"Finnegan was saying things about my Mother and my sister!" Roger interjected immediately, pulling his arm out of my grasp roughly.

"And obviously the best course of action was to ram your fist into his face?" McGonagall asked sarcastically. "Fifty points from Gryffindor for your violence and a detention to be served tonight with Hagrid. As for you, Mr. Finnegan, fifty points from Ravenclaw for your rude remarks. Now, Mr. Malfoy will you please escort Mr. Finnegan to the hospital wing? The rest of you get back to your breakfast."

I breathed a sigh of relief once Scorpius and Jeremy were out of sight. I was so grateful she had not asked me to escort him. I was also relieved she didn't see my hesitation in pulling Roger from Jeremy. If she did she didn't say anything anyway.

"This is why I wish I was an English beauty like you, Rose. While you get noticed, at least it doesn't drive them into making lude remarks."

"I do not get noticed, Carmen."

She rolled her eyes, "You do, and you just are too oblivious to notice. However, I would trade you any day."

"I think I'm alright." I replied. I personally could not handle all the stares Carmen earned in a day. Especially from the third year boys who were just coming into their sexuality. I had it on good authority that Carmen was the object of many wet dreams and masturbation fantasies; not that I would ever tell her this.

Xxx

"Twins huh?" Scorpious asked as the two of us made our way to Professor McGonagall's office for a meeting.

"Identical."

"I believe this ties the Davies family with the Weasleys." He chuckled.

I did have to laugh at this, "Don't tease her about it."

"I won't say anything to anyone about it. In fact I have to say that I am a bit jealous."

"Jealous?" I asked curiously.

"I'm an only child, Rose. I've always wondered what it would have been like to have a little brother or sister, or even a few."

"It has its ups and downs." I shrugged. "Trust me though…one sibling is enough, especially if your sibling is Hugo."

We were silent the rest of our way to her office and once we were inside and seated in front of her desk, with a picture of a snoring Albus Dumbledore behind her, she got to business.

"This year we have decided to have a Yule Ball."

"But professor, aren't those only held when there is a Tri-Wizard tournament?" I asked.

"Yes, that is true Miss Weasley. But we feel like the older students deserve something for all of their hard work in their studies. It is undecided whether or not the Tri-Wizard tournament will ever happen again given what happened the last time we hosted it."

"Okay, so we're having a Yule ball, where do Rose and I fit into this?" Scorpius asked a bit impatiently to which McGonagall shot him a look.

"As head boy and girl, I've decided that the Yule ball will be your one night off and place more duty onto the prefects shoulders. However, I do require that the two of you set a good example for the rest of the fourth, fifth, six and seventh year students. I would like you two to open the ball with a respectable dance. Of course such a dance will take practice that is why I am alerting you to this now."

"What do you mean by a respectable dance?" I asked.

"A waltz. I'm sure Mr. Malfoy can teach you, am I right in assuming that Mr. Malfoy?"

"Of course, professor, I learned to waltz a few years ago."

"Excellent. Teach Rose how to waltz. That is your only worry for the Yule ball. However, I expect you two to behave like a head boy and girl the entire night even without your duties to hold you to it."

We left her office in a state of excitement. We were to have a night off! And for a ball no less! All I had to do was learn how to waltz…which Scorpius was going to find out was easier said than done.

Xxx

"Shut up Zabini, we'll see who is the better chaser on Saturday won't we?" Carmen asked, hands on her hips as she and Derek faced down in my common room.

Scorpius walked in at that moment, bag slung across his shoulder, to see Carmen and Derek staring down one another in front of the fireplace. He shot me a look before he threw his bag down on one of the arm chairs and moved to stand in between Derek and Carmen.

"Alright you two, get out. I have to start teaching Rose how to waltz."

That seemed to bring the two of them out of their fighting zone. The two of them started laughing—at me. It was a well known fact that I could not dance…or at least it had become well known after the announcement for the Yule Ball had been made and my brother and cousins had been telling stories of how bad of a dancer I was. Thankfully that didn't seem to deter Scorpious from teaching me how to do this waltz properly. If I had to dance in front of the school, I didn't want to be embarrassed as I did so.

"Shut up." I snapped.

"Good luck, Malfoy, you'll need it. You should have seen her when my Mom tried to teach her the salsa."

"Hey! That is a private memory!"

"Do tell, Davies." Scorpius grinned.

"Well you see it—"

"Out! Now." I interrupted. A giggle in the corner caught my attention and I turned my eyes on Zabini, "You too, Zabini."

"You'll fill me in won't you, Scor?" Derek asked as he made his way to the door behind Carmen.

"You better shut up before she uses her bat bogey hex on you; she inherited her skill for that hex from her aunt Ginny." Carmen warned.

That shut him up and after a few seconds Scorpius and I were finally alone in our common room. I watched a bit nervously as he summoned a record player, shrugged off his robes, loosened his tie and rolled up his shirt sleeves.

"You better put some heels on, so you get used to the feel of dancing in them." Scorpious said to which I remained silent, giving him a look as if to say: what heels?

"Do you have the heels you're wearing for the ball?"

"I haven't had a chance to go shopping yet; I was planning on it next weekend on our Hogsmeade trip."

He quirked a brow, "Don't you have a pair of heels here then that you can wear in the mean time?"

"No."

"What kind of girl are you, Weasley?"

"A girl that doesn't want to break her ankles, thank you very much."

He rolled his eyes and the next thing I knew a pair of black heels were on the floor before me waiting for me to put my feet in them. I shot him a look before I looked back down at the four inch heels.

"Aren't those a bit high?"

"They'll put you on more equal footing with me since you're so short."

"I am not short! I am an average height for a girl; it is you who is freakishly tall."

It was true. I was taller than my short best friend Carmen, and many of the other girls in my year while Scorpius towered over almost all the girls in the school and quite a few of the guys.

"It gives me a commanding presence. Now put on your shoes so we can get started."

I knew there was no use fighting it; with Carmen helping me pick out my ball outfit I was bound to be forced into four inch heels anyway. So with a sigh I kicked off my Mary Jane's and knee high socks and slipped my feet into the heels Scorpious had produced for me. Thankfully they had a strap that went around my ankle for extra support and when I stood up fully I found that they weren't so bad after all.

"Not so bad are they, Weasley?" He grinned.

"We'll see who is grinning after this lesson. I don't want to hear you complain about me stepping on your feet when you produced these shoes for me to wear."

The grin slipped off his face at that, but he said nothing. Instead he turned on the record player and gestured for me to move closer to him. With that I took a deep breath and moved into Scorpious' arms.

An hour later he turned off the record player and sat down to rub his sore feet…yet he said nothing.

Xxx

As Carmen's best friend I forced myself to bundle up and head to the Quidditch pitch for the Ravenclaw vs. Slytherin game. I was halfway to the pitch when I felt an arm sling around my shoulders and turned to see my cousin Albus grinning down at me.

"Ready to watch Slytherin get their arses beat?" He asked cockily.

"What gives you such faith in Ravenclaw?"

"Carmen." He answered simply.

"You forget that Zabini is rather good, and that Malfoy is a good seeker."

"Not as good as me." He rolled his eyes. "The Ravenclaw seeker isn't too bad…right?"

"How would I know?"

"You're in Ravenclaw, Rose!"

I shot him a look to which he shook his head in dismay. "A Weasley with no love for Quidditch. You are just like Aunt Hermione."

I chose to ignore him and together we finished the walk to the Quidditch pitch. Unfortunately he chose to sit next to me, wasting no time in screaming to the players on the field as if they could hear him. Thankfully I was well versed at tuning my cousins out after years of practice at my Grandparent's house. While Albus screamed himself hoarse I watched Carmen take possession of the quaffle and speed down the pitch to the Slytherin goals.

"And Davies scores for Ravenclaw! Ravenclaw is now in the lead 100 to 50 with no sign of the snitch anywhere!"

However, that changed in an instant. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw a blur of green race by. Upon closer inspection I realized it was Scorpius with the Ravenclaw seeker trying to catch up to him as he dived towards the grass in pursuit of the snitch. It was too late though, in a matter of seconds Malfoy had the snitch in his hand.

"Malfoy has caught the snitch! Slytherin wins!"

I left Albus behind the stands and made my way down towards the locker rooms where I knew Carmen probably needed me. Sure enough I could hear her on the inside screaming obscenities in Spanish as the rest of the team got the hell out of there, including the captain. When I got inside, Carmen had calmed down, muttering every once in a while in her mother's native tongue.

"He's never going to let me forget this." She said once she spotted me.

"Malfoy is the one who won the game, not Zabini." I pointed out. "You scored more goals than him."

She didn't say anything else and I waited in silence as she changed. Once she was finished we headed out of the locker rooms and started on our way back up to the castle.

"It would seem that I am the better chaser, Davies."

We both spun around to see Zabini and Malfoy walking behind us. Carmen immediately adopted her defensive stance and opened her mouth to lay into him.

"Malfoy is the one who proved he was the better seeker than ours. If memory serves me correctly I scored more goals than you and probably would have continued to do so if Malfoy had not caught the snitch. Now if you don't mind, I am going to my dormitory."

With that she started to walk away, leaving me alone facing the two Slytherins.

"Good game guys." And with that I ran to catch up with Carmen.


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Author's Note: Thank you for the interest! Reviews definitely motivate me to keep working on finishing the story (which I'm close to doing) and to go back and review these chapters for you guys.**

* * *

Shopping with Carmen was always hard, but usually we were only shopping for Carmen. So when her focus shifted to me and finding me a dress I found out just how scary she could be. Unfortunately she already had a dress for the Yule Ball that her Mom had sent, so she only had me to worry about on this shopping trip.

Currently I was trapped inside a dressing room with piles of dress robes and muggle dresses surrounding me. So far I had decided that I didn't want to wear dress robes because I liked the style of the muggle gowns a lot better. Of course once I told Carmen that, she had begun to throw numerous muggle gowns over the top of the door.

"Find one yet Rose?" Carmen called from the other side of the door.

"No."

"Good, because I think I found the perfect one for you. Now before you automatically reject it, you have to try it on."

"I don't like the sound of that."

"Promise me that you'll try it on and show it to me."

I sighed, "Fine, toss it over."

As soon as the dress was in my hands I could understand why Carmen had forced the promise out of me. This dress was not one I would have picked out myself. First of all it was black and in my experience black was best saved for school robes, not dresses. Besides that it was strapless which Carmen knew made me paranoid to no end. My Mother had once told me about a muggle girl from her neighborhood whose breasts had been exposed when her strapless dress had slipped at a muggle school formal. I wasn't too busty, but I still worried about it. And on top of those two factors it looked skin tight through the top down to the hips where the dress fanned out into bustled portions marked by rhinestones which were mirrored at the bust in a v-like pattern.

"Just try it Rose, I think it's going to look gorgeous with your body and hair."

I sighed and shed the dress I was currently wearing. It didn't take me long to work my way in the black dress and when I called in Carmen to zip me up the rest of the way she gasped when she took her first look at me.

"You look brilliant!" She screeched. "Look at yourself!"

I turned to look in the mirror and was surprised at what I saw reflected back at me. The dress showcased my small waist line and pushed up what breasts I had into a modest display. The black brought attention to my pale skin, but against the black fabric my snow white skin actually looked appealing rather than sickly. With the white of my skin accentuated against the dark fabric, attention was drawn to my auburn hair; which both of my Grandmother's had always told me was my crowning glory.

"What do you think?" Carmen asked hesitantly.

"I think I'm going to get it."

"You have to Rose!"

I already had the shoes that Scorpious had provided me with so there was no need to buy another pair, especially after I had become so used to dancing in those. So after I purchased my dress, Carmen and I left the store with my dress bag shrunk and placed into my purse, and headed towards the Three Broomsticks for a quick drink.

After we were settled into a booth with two butterbeers before us Carmen started going on and on about her recent letter from her Mom which asked for her opinion on baby names.

"It's obvious she wants to make up for not naming the twins in a cutesy fashion. Ella and Hannah dodged a bullet with that one. So now she wants to name them Alex and Alejandro. I guess I can be thankful that the names don't rhyme."

"Alejandro?"

"It was her abuelo's name." Carmen replied. "At least I won't be the only one without an English name now—oh my gosh is that your brother snogging Daisy Zabini in the corner!"

As I was in the middle of taking a sip of my butterbeer I immediately spit it out at what my best friend had just said. I quickly wiped my mouth, not caring that those nearest to us had just witnessed my embarrassing moment, instead I turned towards the corner she was referring to and saw my brother snogging Daisy Zabini. Was he nuts? Not only was she a fourth year, which wasn't too bad considering he was just one year ahead of her, but she was Derek's little sister and he had made it clear from day one that she was off limits.

"He is nuts? If Zabini finds out, he'll kick his arse." Carmen hissed.

"Apparently. However, I'm not about to let Zabini beat up my little brother."

Carmen's eyes shot to the doorway at that statement, "I hope you were serious about that, Rose, because Zabini just walked in and he looks really angry."

Sure enough there stood Derek Zabini in the doorway, staring daggers at my brother who was still lip locked with his little sister. Scorpius stood behind him but did nothing to stop him as he charged over to where our little siblings were snogging.

Without thinking about what I was doing, I jumped up and raced over the corner, throwing myself in front of my brother as Zabini pulled back his fist to punch him in the face. In retrospect, that was not a good idea as his fist slammed into my face instead. I heard a scream as I staggered back and into my brother's lap as well as some Spanish curses followed by a loud slap.

"You complete arsehole! You just punched Rose!" Carmen screamed.

"That's it Zabini, no one punches my sister in the face!" Hugo yelled as he tried to maneuver me off of his lap.

"Shut up Weasley, the only reason I punched her was because she stupidly jumped in front of your face. But get up and I can finally finish my task."

"Stop it Derek!" Daisy screeched from beside Hugo and I. "Isn't hurting Rose enough?"

"No!"

"You aren't sorry you punched her?" She asked.

"Well yeah, but she threw herself in front of him for Merlin's sake!"

"Enough!"

It only took one word from Scorpius Malfoy to shut the entire pub up. At this point everyone's attention was on our little group in the corner and there was no doubt in my mind that everyone at the Castle would know what had happened here today by the time we got back. This would not look good considering both head boy and girl happened to be present at the scene of the crime.

"Zabini, go back to the castle and take your sister with you." He ordered, at that moment not caring that Derek was his best friend. "Carmen, please take Hugo back to the castle after they've been gone for a ten minutes. In the meantime, I'll take care of Rose."

No one questioned his orders and instead jumped to do what they had been ordered to do. Once I was out of my brother's lap, Scorpius cupped my elbow and led me to the bathroom in the back of the pub.

"What were you thinking jumping in front of Hugo like that?" He asked calmly as he wet a towel and pressed it to my throbbing face. I flinched as it connected with my already swelling eye. Great…I probably had a black eye. If it stuck around for the Yule Ball I would punch Hugo in the face.

"I have no idea, but I wish I hadn't."

Scorpius nodded as he pulled out his wand and used a few simple healing spells on me. One to reduce the swelling and one take away the pain. A quick look in the mirror confirmed my suspicions of a black eye; it seemed Scorpious had no knowledge of a spell for that. Neither did I.

"Unfortunately you'll have to wear a black eye for a couple days." He sighed. "That should remind you to let the boys handle their own affairs."

I scoffed, "By throwing punches you mean?"

He nodded, "It's something Zabini has to do to declare dominance. I'm sure after he punches him he'll consent to letting Hugo and Daisy date. His punch will be a reminder to Hugo as to what happens when he displeases him by hurting his sister."

"That is ridiculous."

"That's how it works."

"How do you know?"

He quirked a brow at me, "In case you didn't notice, I'm a guy."

"I mean, you don't have a little sister to practice this barbaric ritual yourself."

"That doesn't mean it's not a well known fact amongst men, Weasley."

"Ridiculous. Men never cease to amaze me with their barbaric ways. "

With that said the two of us headed out of the Three Broomsticks and made our way back to the castle. It was late in the day and ahead of us we could see other groups of students heading back for the day, their laughter trailing along with the cold wind.

"Did you get a ball gown?"

"Yeah." I replied.

"Let's see it then."

"I don't think so, Malfoy. You'll see on the night of the Yule Ball."

"As your dance partner I should have a right to know."

"You're just my dance partner, not my date. A date would have the right to know."

"So who is your date?"

"Carmen and I decided we'd go together."

"Which is code for no one asked you."

I drew in a breath, "For your information I was asked, but I saw fit to decline to all of them."

"In other words you were asked by fourth and fifth years."

"Shut up."

"Ha! I knew it!"

"There isn't anyone I'm interested in anyway, so I might as well go with my friend and have a good time. What about you? Are you going with anyone?"

"I've gotten quite a few offers, but I haven't seen it fit to ask anyone myself."

"I bet most of those offers were from fourth and fifth years as well."

"Maybe." He scoffed. "Maybe I'll just go stag; no pressure, I don't have to worry about offending some bint by dancing with you at the beginning."

"As if you dancing with me would offend someone," I scoffed, "everyone knows it is our duty as head boy and girl."

"Well maybe I feel the same as you. There's no one I'm interested in, so I might as well go alone and enjoy myself."

"Good, so you can't tease me about it then."

"Just don't embarrass me when we have to waltz."

Xxx

_Rose,_

_We were very upset to hear about the recent incident involving you and your brother. Right now he is probably about to open the howler I sent for him. I hope your eye is alright, sweetheart. In the future please refrain from becoming involved in this aspect of your brother's life, especially if the result is you getting hurt. All I ask is that you make sure he is not hurt too severely and make sure his girlfriend is not distracting him too much from his studies. He is a Weasley after all, and if you remember the story I told you about your Father and a certain girl with two colors for a name, there will be no talking sense into him. It's best to let him take his own punches because he probably deserves them anyway, Rosie. Also, make sure to take pictures at the Yule Ball and bring them home on break. Until then!_

_Love,_

_Your Mother_

"HUGO WEASLEY! HOW COULD YOU LET YOUR SISTER TAKE A PUNCH FOR YOU? YOUR FATHER AND I ARE SEVERELY DISSAPPOINTED IN YOU! IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE SATISFACTORY OWLS THIS YEAR THERE WILL BE SEVERE CONSEQUENCES, YOUNG MAN. REMEMBER THAT THE NEXT TIME YOUR SISTER HAS TO THROW HERSELF IN FRONT OF YOU WHEN YOU SHOULD BE STUDYING!"

I almost felt bad for him, but then I caught a glimpse of myself in the large serving bowl on the table and suddenly I didn't feel too bad anymore. While I felt no pain in my eye, there was still a slight de-coloration that drew all sort of unwanted attention from everyone in the castle. Now it was his turn to garner unwanted attention from the rest of the castle.

"You look entirely too pleased by your brother's howler." Carmen chuckled from beside me.

"She must be pretty mad; she's acting like my Grandma Weasley. She was infamous for sending howlers." I smirked. "Anyway, I've been meaning to ask. Was that slap I heard you slapping Zabini?"

"Of course it was! He had just punched my best friend!"

"And he didn't say anything about it?" I asked skeptically.

"Not a thing, of course he was a little busy addressing everyone else in attention."

"So he did nothing?"

She looked thoughtful for a second, "Well he did stop, hold a hand to his cheek and look at me with burning eyes. For a second I was afraid he was going to punch me or something."

"Or something?"

Carmen blushed.

"Out with it, Davies."

"Well…he actually looked like he was about to grab me and kiss me…but that's ridiculous right?"

"Stranger things have happened."


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

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Because the Yule Ball was being held the night before we returned home for the holidays, there had been increased excitement over the past few weeks especially amongst the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh years. And while they ran around talking excitedly about their dresses and dates, Scorpius made me practice our waltz even more.

So it was relief when the day of the ball finally arrived. The classes of the day flew by quickly, most of the teachers realizing that there was no use in actually trying to teach when everyone was too excited for the ball and the start of the holiday break.

After my last class ended, I quickly headed back to my dormitory where Carmen was waiting outside the portal, with her own dress bag in hand. Carmen had insisted on doing my hair and makeup and had already told me that there was no way out of it.

"Wait until you see what I have planned for you!" Carmen smiled widely after I uttered the password and we stepped through the portal.

Scorpius sat at his favorite armchair reading a copy of the _Daily Prophet_ as we entered and curiously looked up at our arrival. He looked so nonchalant, especially considering that the ball was in a few hours.

"You girls off to get ready for hours on end?" He asked with a quirked brow.

"As a matter of fact, we are." Carmen replied with a grin. "Don't bother waiting for us."

"Wasn't planning on it. I'll see you at the ball."

With that said Carmen and I made our way up to my room.

The next few hours whirled by in a flash of scary wand waving, Spanish curses and a very close call with a muggle curling iron which almost cost me my ear. Note to self, never let Carmen use muggle objects again, especially ones that are hot.

"¡Dios mío, Rose! You look amazing…if I do say so myself." Carmen grinned as the two of us stood before my floor length mirror after hours of getting ready for the ball.

As I stared at my reflection in the mirror I couldn't help but think that losing my ear would have been worth it. I had never looked better in my life. Before me, reflected in the mirror, stood a girl I hardly recognized but I desperately wanted to know. As Carmen had predicted the black gown accentuated my pale skin beautifully. My hair had been done in gentle curls that Carmen had pinned to one side of my neck, so the other side of my neck was completely bare, showing the pale line of my throat.

"I think you might take my place in boy's fantasies, Rosie." Carmen grinned as she watched me looking at myself.

"Doubt it, but thank you, Carmen, I look wonderful."

"You really do, Rosie." She smiled.

Once I was down gazing at myself I finally turned my attention to my best friend. Her dress wasn't anything too fancy but she was radiant. Her dress was rather plain compared to her quinceañera dress she had worn for her fifteenth birthday celebration two years ago. That dress had been a very bejeweled pink number her mother had forced her into. This dress, however, was champagne in color, accentuating her beautiful skin to perfection with a tight bust that led to a flaring skirt

"Well, shall we make our grand appearance?"

With that we made our way down to the Great Hall, passing by other students on their way to the ball. As we did, I could feel their gazes trailing after us, especially the boys; even when they were nudged hard in the side by their date's elbow. Carmen shot me a knowing look which I pointedly ignored and before I knew it we were standing outside the doors to the Great Hall. The ball hadn't officially started yet, but already most of the students were congregated inside socializing before the music began.

Carmen and I made our way inside, several people looking up at our arrival curiously. Carmen seemed perfectly at ease, but I was not used to all the extra attention. Instead of lingering gazes directed at my best friend, all eyes seemed to be lingering on me much longer than I was used to and I wasn't sure how I felt about the attention.

"Told you." Carmen whispered with a chuckle.

"Shut up."

"Attention students! Will the head boy and girl please make their way to the center of the dance floor to begin the ball with a traditional waltz?"

That was my cue; with a nervous smile to Carmen I made my way to the middle of the makeshift dance floor that had been erected in the Great Hall. All eyes were on me as I made my way through the crowd. Up ahead I could see Scorpius' pale blonde head over the crowd and knew he was waiting for me to arrive. The crowd parted before me and I finally caught sight of him. He hadn't noticed my arrival yet and I took a moment to take him in. He looked regal standing there in his crisp black dress robes with an emerald green necktie at his throat. Then he turned to see me approaching.

He looked taken aback for a moment before he held out his hand towards me. Then with every eye on us, Scorpius took me into his arms as the first notes of the waltz began. After that I hardly noticed anyone else was in the room as I concentrated on not messing up what Scorpius had taught me over the past few weeks. He'd worked so hard to teach my clumsy self the dance and I wasn't about to embarrass him in front of the entire Great Hall…or myself for that matter.

"Relax, you're doing fine." Scorpius whispered after we had successfully been dancing for a little bit. It felt like we had been dancing for hours already, but I knew that it really had only been about a minute.

"I don't want to embarrass either of us." I whispered back, careful not to let our chit chat break my concentration on the dance.

"Quit thinking so much and you will embarrass us."

I gave him a look; did he not realize who exactly he was telling to quit thinking? He chuckled before he successfully led me in another turn about the floor.

"Excuse me; I should have realized who I was talking to. It's impossible for you not to think."

"Yes."

The two of us were silent for the remainder of the waltz and as we came to a stop at the center of the floor once again, with everyone else watching us clapping enthusiastically, Scorpius grinned and placed a kiss on my cheek.

"You look beautiful by the way."

And with that he walked off.

I immediately sought out Carmen in the crowd as much more modern music started up, causing a surge of people to gather on the dance floor. It didn't take me too long to find her after I maneuvered off of the dance floor. I found her by the desert table gently letting down a fifth year who had asked her to dance. Once the boy walked off, his face tinted red in embarrassment, I approached her.

"You're such a heart breaker, Carmen." I laughed.

She raised a brow at me, "What was that between you and Malfoy?"

I gave her a confused look, "A waltz."

Carmen rolled her eyes, "Thank you for that, Sherlock. I was referring to him kissing your cheek."

"We're supposed to set an example and that was a very gentlemanly thing to do?"

"Yeah…ok Rose. Whatever makes you feel better you really nee-"

She stopped abruptly, her gaze leaving mine to something beyond my shoulder. I turned around and followed her gaze to where Scorpius and Derek Zabini stood talking to one another. Scorpius' back was to us, but Zabini was facing our way. He was dressed impeccably in a set of black dress robes, a grey silk necktie about his neck. He looked rather dashing, and I was pretty sure Carmen was thinking the same thing.

"Is Carmen Davies actually speechless?" I asked with a laugh.

"Shut up, Rose. Like you-oh bloody hell he's headed this way!"

"When has that ever bothered you before? You can handle him." I replied.

"Not when he looks like that!" She hissed.

"I'll just leave you to it then."

"Like hell you will!" And with that she grabbed my arm, anchoring me to her side as Zabini covered the last of the distance that has separated us.

"Nice dancing Weasley." He greeted me with a nod.

"Thank you." I acknowledged with a polite smile.

"Davies." He nodded.

"Zabini."

"Fancy a dance? We can find out who the better dancer is."

With that challenge issued, Carmen's entire demeanor changed. "Let's go Zabini, I'll show you just how well I can dance."

I was laughing as the two of them walked out onto the dance floor where they promptly began to dance. It was pretty clear to me that the two felt the same for each other, even if they didn't realize it yet. Challenging each other was just their way of showing their passion…for now. They reminded me a bit of my parents. I'd heard stories of their infamous rows throughout the years and as I grew older and witnessed a few of my own I began to put two and two together. It was how they expressed their passion and after they became a couple and married it meant that the next morning at breakfast they both looked very exhausted and satisfied. I shuddered at the thought.

"Hey Rose." Roger greeted. "Want to dance?"

I nodded my consent and allowed by best friend's little brother to lead me out to the dance floor. It wasn't awkward at all between the two of us; after years of being around each other we had slipped into a companionable relationship.

"Imagine my surprise when I saw you dancing, and quite well, out there with Malfoy." Roger chuckled once we reached the dance floor.

Thankfully it was a slower song, which did not take a lot of skill to perform. Otherwise I was sure I would have looked like an idiot trying to dance.

"Yeah, that took weeks of training. Scorpius taught me…very patiently I might add."

"I can imagine. I saw you at Carmen's quinceañera, remember?"

I sighed, "Please do not remind me."

"So what's with Zabini and my sister, I thought they didn't like each other?"

I grinned, "Oh they do, Roger. Their competitiveness is how they express their passion towards the other. It appears that they are just realizing that they do, in fact, like each other."

Roger rolled his eyes, "Are you kidding me? My sister and Derek Zabini? A Ravenclaw and a Slytherin?"

"You are such a Gryffindor sometimes. Weirder matches have been made and in case you didn't notice they are well suited for each other. House shouldn't matter."

"But it does."

I rolled my eyes, "Well good luck telling your sister that when she and Zabini start to date, which I know they will eventually."

"No thanks, I learned a long time ago to not get that involved in my older sister's life."

"Good choice, Roger."

After my dance ended with Roger I moved away from the dance floor and grabbed some deserts and refreshments. Then I sat down to eat them alone because my date had ditched me for the dashing Slytherin she was still dancing with out on the floor.

"It seems we were both ditched." Scorpius sighed as he sat down in the chair next to mine. He had a plate full of pumpkin pasties and a glass of sparkling pumpkin juice in hand which he immediately dug into.

"Yeah, but it's about time."

"I agree." He replied after he swallowed his mouthful of pumpkin pasty. Thank God he had manners, unlike my brother who repeatedly talked with his mouthful no matter how many times my mother and I yelled at him to do otherwise.

"I saw you dancing with Roger Davies…I thought you didn't dance beyond what I taught you?"

"I don't. I only danced with him because it was a slow song, which therefore is easy to dance to and because he is my best friend's younger brother."

"Well if that's the case…there is a slow song on right now. Care to dance?"

"Are you sure you want to take another chance of me embarrassing you?"

"You didn't seem to embarrass Roger when you danced. In fact the entire time the bloke was getting death stares from the rest of the guys in the room."

"Yeah right."

"I told you that you look beautiful tonight, are you calling me a liar?"

I didn't respond and Scorpius took my silence as an invitation to grab my hand and lead me/drag me out onto the dance floor.

"So you want all the blokes to stare at you angrily?" I asked as we started to sway to the music.

"It helps boost my reputation." He replied simply.

Just then I spotted a couple dancing much too closely over his shoulder and heaved a sigh; we were off duty, it wasn't our job. "Well I guess if anything we can set an example as head boy and girl to dance respectfully with each other. A couple behind you are practically grinding against each other."

Scorpius quickly twirled us around so he could see the couple I was referring to. "Merlin's pants! That's Zabini and Davies!"

My eyes widened and I took a closer look. It was!

"Bloody hell, that didn't take long, did it?"

Scorpius just grinned.

Xxx

By the end of the ball I had completely lost track of Carmen and Derek. But I shrugged it off; she knew how to take care of herself and I would drill her for details on the train tomorrow. As for Scorpius and I, we left the prefects with a list of duties and then took off towards our chambers.

"Feels nice not having to be on duty tonight, right?" I asked with a smile as we rounded the corner towards our portrait.

"Yes, especially since one of those prefects is going to find Zabini and Davies somewhere."

I was about to protest when Scorpius shot me a look and then he said, "He's a Slytherin, Rose."


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Author's Note: I love all the alerts I am getting, however, the number of those doesn't quite correlate with the number of reviews. Don't be afraid to leave a review, even if its just one word or one sentence. Reviews motivate me to write, post and sometimes they can inspire me too. Thanks for all the interest!**

* * *

I didn't meet up with Carmen again until a half hour into the train ride back to London. After Scorpius and I made sure that everyone was settled in, we parted ways after wishing each other a Happy Holiday and sought out our best friends. I found Carmen in a compartment all by herself, staring out the window. She turned at the sound of my arrival, a nervous grin on her face. Neither of us said anything as I made my way inside and remained that way until I had the compartment door sealed.

"Alright, spill it Carmen. I want all the details of what happened last night starting with him taking you out to the dance floor."

She blushed, "We were our usual selves out on the dance floor, being competitive like we are, until he suddenly got very serious and told me how beautiful I was. After that we just started talking to each other, telling each other everything about ourselves. As you saw we danced all night, talking and snogging occasionally. It was wonderful."

I raised a brow, "What happened after the Ball?"

"Nothing, he was a perfect gentleman. He walked me back to the tower and left me with a very passionate good night kiss." She sighed, a faraway look in her eye as she remembered the kiss she had just described.

"Are you guys a couple?"

"I think so, but we didn't discuss that. In fact, I haven't seen him all day and I doubt I'll see him at the station; his parents always get him out of there really fast."

I smiled at that. Carmen had spent years observing Derek unconsciously. I had kept my mouth shut about it. At one time I had attributed it to the fact that she loved to beat him, but eventually I recognized it for what it was.

"What about you and Malfoy? I saw that you danced again with him."

I shrugged, "We're friendly. We'd both been abandoned by our best friends."

Carmen looked sheepish, "Sorry about that."

"Don't be; you needed this little pick me up."

She rolled her eyes, "Tell me about it. In less than three hours I will be playing with dolls and getting punched in the stomach."

Xxx

The days leading up to Christmas were complete chaos. As usual Hugo and I were ferreted back and forth between the quiet Granger household where we were absolutely spoiled rotten as their only Grandchildren and the chaotic Weasley household where I was quickly relegated as babysitter to all of my younger cousins.

Thankfully, the day after Christmas was reserved for just the four of us. That meant that Mom made breakfast for all of us in the morning which was followed by a few games and finally the four of us went our separate ways to play with our presents for the rest of the day.

I was in the middle of doing just that, however in my case I was not playing but instead reading a book my Mother had given me, when an owl pecked on my bedroom window insistently. With a sigh, I got up from my bed and went to open the window for the tawny owl. Once I had taken the letter from his leg, he quickly flew out the window. Obviously he had not been instructed to wait for a reply. After I shut the window against the December chill, I sat back down on my bed and broke the Hogwarts seal on the letter.

_Miss Weasley,_

_I sincerely hope you had a happy holiday and wish you and yours a Happy New Year. However, I am sorry to interrupt your time of rest and relaxation in order to bring you this news. Shortly after your departure from Hogwarts, I received permission from the Ministry for you to fulfill your desire to become an animagus. Another student had also sought me out at the end of your sixth year on this topic and has been granted the privilege as well. I believe that both of you will be able to achieve this in a very short amount of time…that is if you work together. I have sent a similar letter to Mr. Malfoy and asked that you two work together to achieve this shared goal. If you two are able to teach yourselves in a timely fashion I will be sure to add this to your file at Graduation and put forth my best word the Ministry._

_Sincerely,_

_Professor M. McGonagall_

I was actually going to be able to become an animagus! I had figured after many months had passed that my inquiry had been easily denied. After the war, becoming an animagus had become much more of a ministry involved thing that went beyond simply registering. Not only where you submitted to yearly examinations but you had to be registered, licensed and granted permission to become one in the first place. Of course this legislation was brought on by the discovery of Peter Pettigrew's life as a rat, Sirius Black's ability to skirt around the ministry when he was wanted, and when Rita Skeeter was revealed as an unregistered animagus after she wrote some pretty slanderous things about my parents.

It was then that another peck came at my window. I quickly opened the window and a beautiful gray owl flew in. After I had taken the letter from his leg he waited patiently on my desk. I slipped him a treat and tore through the seal of the letter.

_Rose,_

_I just received word from McGonagall that we have both been approved to become animagi. I assume that you received a similar letter and were wondering when you would be interested in beginning our studying? My Mother and Father are away at a party all afternoon and into the evening and Malfoy Manor has a large collection of books on the topic. Send your response with Snitch._

_Sincerely,_

_Scorpius Malfoy_

Grabbing a piece of parchment and a quill, I quickly penned a response, needing no time to think it over.

_Scorpius,_

_I'll be there in an hour with some notes my Mother has on the subject. Hope your floo is open._

_-Rose_

Xxx

My mother had been absolutely thrilled. She had never personally had the time to study to become an animagus and when she had had the time, she figured she was too old to learn. I had no doubt that she could still pull it off, but it seemed she was satisfied to live this experience through me. So after I collected her extensive notes on the subject, I stepped into the fireplace and flooed over to Malfoy Manor.

I had never been to the place before, but I had heard a lot about it. As I stepped out of the fireplace and into the well decorated drawing room I was struck by the fact that this was the very house where my Mother was tortured years ago. A shudder raced down my spine, but as I looked around I was calmed. Gone were the dark colors that had been described to me over the years and in their place where inviting crème colors all around the room.

I further relaxed when Scorpius appeared before me with an inviting smile on his face.

"Welcome to Malfoy Manor, Weasley."

I chuckled a bit at that, "This has to some monumental occasion. You just welcomed a Weasley into your house."

Scorpius frowned, "Look…I know what happened here between our parents but I don't believe in any of that crap alright?"

"I don't either, Scorpius, nor do I hold any grudge against you or your parents."

"Good." He sighed and then once again his face returned to its previous smiling state. "So, are you ready to get started?"

"Yes! I am so thrilled! So is my Mother, you should have seen her. She practically tripped all over herself gathering up her research on it."

Scorpius nodded his head, the smile still in place as he gestured for me to follow him from the room. He led me down the hall and then up a staircase in silence before he turned to me again.

"What do you think you'll be?"

"Hopefully not a rat."

He laughed, "You are much too pretty to be a rat, Rose. I could imagine you as a cat."

"A cat? Like McGonagall?" I asked skeptically.

"Okay maybe not. However, that was a compliment. You are clever, intelligent and selective in your company."

"How about you? Maybe a Labrador retriever?" I teased.

He just laughed and led me into the library. And some library it was! The library itself was the length of the Great Hall and two stories high filled with books. At the center of the room was a fireplace surrounded by leather couches and a table and chairs to conduct research upon.

"I bet this is one of your wet dreams come to life isn't it, Weasley?" Scorpius chuckled.

I blushed at that. "You are sick, Malfoy. However, I will say that I absolutely love your library! I could get lost in here for hours!"

He just laughed at me and led me over to the table where he had already stacked books out on the subject for us. I was slightly disappointed that I wouldn't get to look at the shelves, but understood that he didn't invite me here to explore his library for hours.

"Do you think we can do this before going back to Hogwarts?" Scorpius asked as the two of us sat down across from each other at the table.

I quirked an arrogant brow at him, "Do you not know who my Mother is, Scorpius? Of course we can."

Time flew by after that, both of us pouring over numerous volumes and furiously scribbling down notes. After two hours we actually started to practice, not making much progress. However, we were happy with our results. For the first day of studying we had already achieved more than had been highlighted in the numerous volumes we had consulted, including my Mother's research. In fact we were about to try the spell on ourselves once again when someone cleared their throat loudly from the entrance of the library.

We both started and looked up at the doorway to see Scorpius' parents looking in on us curiously. At the moment we both looked like hell. Scorpius' hair was sticking straight up from running his hands through it numerous times in frustration and his clothes were in disarray from being slumped over the table for hours. I didn't fare much better either, my hair had become slightly frizzy around my face and I was sure that my eyes were probably slightly bloodshot.

"Hello Father, Mother." Scorpius greeted after he got over the initial surprise of seeing them standing there watching us.

Draco and Astoria Malfoy looked over the two of us carefully before they exchanged a look and turned their attention back to their son.

"Do you know what time it is, Scorpius?" Mr. Malfoy asked casually, slipping his hands in his trouser pockets nonchalantly.

Scorpius shook his head before he quickly turned to look at the clock that sat on top of the mantle. Neither of us had paid much attention to it during our studies…in fact I hadn't even known it was there until just then.

"It's midnight." He stated in surprise.

"Yes, acute observation son." Mr. Malfoy drawled. "Do you mind explaining why your mother and I returned home to fine a hastily scrawled missive from Mrs. Hermione Weasley wondering where her daughter was at this time of night?"

Scorpius ran a hand through his hair, "My apologies, we completely lost track of time. Today Professor McGonagall wrote us informing us that we had been granted permission to become animagi. Naturally, she suggested that the two of us together could probably achieve this goal much sooner than if we were to work separately."

His parents' eyes lit up at the news. They were obviously proud of their son. However, the reality that it was past midnight and I was still at Malfoy Manor hit me then. My parents were not going to be happy. Before I had left Mother and I had agreed not to tell Dad exactly where I was going. He knew I was going to study becoming an animagi with Scorpius Malfoy, but not at Malfoy Manor.

"That is wonderful news Scorpius!" Mrs. Malfoy smiled widely. "Congratulations to you both. However—"

Her words were cut off by a loud shout that echoed in the halls of the Manor.

"Malfoy! What have you done to my daughter!"

My face immediately flushed in embarrassment as the screams of my Father reached our ears in the library.

"Ronald Weasley! Will you quit screaming like a barbarian? I'm sure nothing is wrong, they probably just lost track of time." I heard my Mother yelling as my Dad's footsteps became louder and louder.

"Weasley, I don't seem to remember inviting you to my house." Mr. Malfoy greeted as my parents came into view.

I wanted to die. I really wanted the carpet below me to swallow me whole. A quick look over at Scorpius told me that he probably felt the same way. We both had no grudge against the other, and while our parents weren't exactly thrilled about the idea of Scorpius or the idea of me, they still absolutely hated each other.

"Well I don't think that matters considering the fact that my daughter is being held hostage here after midnight!"

"Ronald! She is not being held hostage!" My mother cried.

I finally decided it was time to step in before my Dad further embarrassed us both, "Please forgive me, Scorpius and I lost track of time and Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy only just discovered us and informed us of your note, Mom."

"You certainly are not coming over here anymore, that's for sure."

"Yes she will, Ronald. It is obvious that this library hold all of the knowledge she needs to become an animagus. However, it is apparent that some guidelines need to be in place."

"I agree." Mrs. Malfoy spoke up. "I sincerely apologize, Draco and I have been gone since early this afternoon and only just discovered that your daughter was here."

My Mother sent me a look, "I am sorry as well, my daughter did not inform me that you two weren't here when she asked to come."

"Oh come on! We're studying!" I interjected quickly, immediately feeling my face burn at what they were implying with their words.

"Regardless, if you are to continue to study together we have to have some guidelines." My Mother continued.

Mrs. Malfoy shook her head, "Rose is allowed here at any time to research with you Scorpius, however, your father or I have to be in residence and Ms. Weasley is to go home at whatever time her parents request of her."

"Eight o' clock." Mom supplied easily.

It was in that moment that I watched our Mothers come to an understanding and create a small sort of friendship bond, as mothers do in these types of situations. However, our fathers were still glaring at each other, but said nothing for fear of what their wives would say.

"Now that that's settled we should be off. Please forgive our intrusion." Mom smiled politely. "Rose will come back tomorrow around one if that is alright with you?"

"Of course, she can dine with us and then we'll send her home by eight."

And with that settled, Mom grabbed my hand and led me out of the library, my Dad trailing along behind me muttering about the Malfoys the entire way to the fireplace.

Xxx

"You were caught in the library alone with Scorpius at midnight?" Carmen squealed excitedly over the phone.

I had been long acquainted with the telephone since my mother was a muggleborn and used the phone to keep in touch with her parents. However, Carmen had not grown up with the device. In our fifth year, when I had finally grown tired of crouching before the fire to talk to her on break I had finally convinced her to get a phone. Luckily it hadn't taken much to convince her parents. In fact, now all of her Mother's sisters had phones of their own and Carmen had to practically fight her mother for the privilege.

"We were studying, Carmen. It's not like we were snogging like you would have been with Derek."

"Still, it is obvious that your parents see the potential for that happening."

I rolled my eyes, "Parents always see that when teenagers of the opposite sex are alone together even when it is obvious that there is nothing scandalous going on, Carmen."

"I can see I am not going to win this argument." Carmen sighed. "So, what animal do you think you'll be?"

"I honestly don't know. The books we've read talk about how the animal we turn into is a reflection of our personalities unless we specifically aim towards a particular creature. Scorpius and I have decided to wait and see what we become."

"You're going to be a cat."

"No I am not!" I protested hotly. "Scorpius said the same thing!"

She laughed at that, "I will die laughing if you do turn into a cat like McGonagall."

"Shut up."


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Author's Note: Sorry I didn't post earlier, but I had a Spanish exam to study for. Anyway, this chapter marks the turning point in the story. Hope you enjoy it!**

* * *

It was the last night before our return to Hogwarts and both Scorpius and I were desperate to complete the first transformation before I had to go home at eight. Despite the fact that this was our most crucial day for our animagi dreams, our parents had not relented on the eight o clock curfew.

By the time seven rolled around we were both pretty desperate. So far we had spent hours repeatedly trying to transform with no success.

"There has to be something we're not doing right!" Scorpius sighed in frustration, running a hand through his already disheveled hair.

I shook my head, "No, we're doing everything right. There is no logical reason for this to not be working."

With a glance at the clock Scorpius turned back to me with a sigh. "Alright, let's try this one last time but let's do it at the same time. If it doesn't work we'll keep working on it at Hogwarts with McGonagall's help."

I nodded my head, "Alright…on the count of three."

"One."

"Two."

"Three."

What followed can simply and cliché-ly be called magical. Bright white light lit the room, and knocked the two of us apart from each other and onto the carpeted library floor. It only took a few minutes for the white light to recede and when it did I was able to clearly see the library ceiling above me. That was strange…had I always been able to see the domed ceiling that well before? Had I even stared up at the ceiling before? Before I could come to a conclusion the library door slammed open and Scorpius' parents stood there staring into the room in astonishment.

"You've done it!" Mr. Malfoy laughed joyously as he stared in the other direction at where I assumed Scorpius was presumably changed. In that moment I felt my heart sink until a startled gasp from Mrs. Malfoy captured my attention.

"They've both done it, Draco!" She cried. "And they're both wolves!"

I was confused by that statement and quickly looked down at my body. However, I did not see my human body instead I was covered in auburn fur that was the exact same shade as my human hair. I heard a whimper across the room and lifted my eyes into the silver eyes I knew belonged to Scorpius Malfoy despite the fact that he was covered in silver fur as well. Bloody hell, Mrs. Malfoy was right; we were both wolves! How did that even happen?

"Astoria, go and floo her parents."

With that said, Mrs. Malfoy turned and walked away from the library presumably to call my parents. Once she was gone, Mr. Malfoy moved into the room and over to the French doors that led out onto the ornate deck that looked over the lands of Malfoy Manor.

"You two go outside and have a run to clear your minds and get used to your forms. Don't take too long, Scorpius, Miss Weasley needs to get home in a timely manner tonight."

With a nod from Scorpius, the wolf, the two of us quickly ran out into the cool night air. Immediately I felt relieved. The two of us stood on the deck and turned to look at each other curiously. We were not werewolves, that was for sure, but normal wolves…despite our colorings. However, I didn't understand how it was possible for both of us to be wolves. But now was not the time to contemplate such things as Scorpius darted down the stairs and onto the lawn, throwing a playful look over his shoulder.

I quickly followed and began to chase Scorpius Malfoy around on his lawn.

It didn't take long for the two of us to tire and as we lay back on the cool grass for a breather I felt a tingle go down my spine. A quick glance down at my body confirmed that I had changed back into my normal self and thankfully my clothes were still intact.

"How is it even possible?" Scorpius muttered from beside me.

I shrugged, "First thing we need to do when we get back is talk to McGonagall."

"Couldn't agree more." He replied. "We better get back inside; I'm sure our parents are anxious."

"Especially mine." I chuckled as I pictured my parents sitting on a sofa in the Malfoy parlor looking distinctly uncomfortable. I could just see my Dad's lips pressed together in a line, keeping himself from saying something for fear of my Mother's retaliation.

When we tiredly made our way to where our parents were waiting, all four of them jumped up and looked at us anxiously.

"We don't know how to change back at will yet, but we'll get there." Scorpius said, effectively breaking the ice.

It was then that my Mom launched herself at me, "Oh honey! I am so proud! What did you turn into?"

"A wolf." I replied. "It's so weird, because Scorpius did too."

I felt my Mom stiffen and then she pulled away from me.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Wolves mate for life." She muttered cryptically as the Malfoys and my dad watched on in confusion.

"What are you talking about?"

She shook her head, "I can't be sure. But during my research I stumbled upon a rare book that contained information on something that has only happened twice in wizarding history. I'll have to find it when we get home."

"Is it serious?" Mr. Malfoy asked sternly, causing all eyes to turn in his direction.

He and my Mother stared at each other for a long while until my Mom responded, "I'll find the passage and we will all discuss it."

Mr. Malfoy accepted this with a nod, "When you find it; we'll arrange to meet with you two in Hogsmeade as you will be returning to school tomorrow. As for now, judging by the look on Granger's face it's best that you two say nothing about your forms. Only McGonagall can know."

"Exactly, not even your best friends. And for the record, it's Weasley now."

A feeling of dread had settled into my stomach at the serious turn of conversation. What would this passage say? What would it mean for Scorpius and me? How was it that a moment that should have left me feeling accomplished left me feeling confused and a bit sick? A quick look at Scorpius confirmed that I was not alone in these feelings.

"I'll see you tomorrow." I whispered tiredly.

"Good night, Rose."

Xxx

By the next morning my Mother still had not found the passage she was looking for. However, judging by the state of our den where the bookshelves were located I was sure that it wouldn't be long until she did find it. Until then, I pushed the thought out of my mind and concentrated on my return back to Hogwarts.

It didn't take me long to find Carmen on the train and when I did it was only to find her in a lip lock with Derek Zabini. At first I was tempted to walk away and leave them to their snogging session, but I quickly decided against it when I realized that most of the other compartments were already full on this particular section of the train. So I noisily slid the compartment door open and plopped down on the seat across from them.

"Hey Rose." Carmen blushed.

"Sorry to ruin the moment, but the other compartments are full."

"No problem, Weasley. Carmen and I were just catching up." Derek grinned.

"Yeah, it sure looked that way." I smirked. "Anyway, have you seen Scorpius yet?"

Derek shook his head, "No, I haven't heard from him in a while. Last I heard from him was that you two were trying to turn into animagi. How did that go?"

Immediately I remembered what we had been told last night about not saying anything, however, Derek had just put me in an awkward position. If I didn't lie and said that we had managed to achieve our goal, they would both be curious as to what we had turned into…which they weren't allowed to know. And if I lied and said we hadn't…that made me a liar.

Thankfully I was saved from having to answer as the compartment door slid open and Scorpius stuck his head inside.

He quickly nodded at Carmen and Derek before he turned to me, "Rose, we've got a problem with a little duel down the way between a few of second years."

I was saved! With that said, I quickly followed Scorpius out of the compartment and down the small corridor where two small second years were blocking the way with their childish dueling. Scorpius quickly took control of the situation and within minutes the matter had been resolved with only house points being deducted. Then we were alone in the corridor together.

"So, did your Mom find that passage?" He asked anxiously.

I shook my head, "No, and Derek was just asking me about that before you came in and distracted them. I didn't want to lie."

"Me either; we'll just have to avoid the topic the best we can until we get this all figured out. As for now, we already have a meeting with McGonagall after dinner and we can fill her in then."

Xxx

Dinner had passed by rather quickly, filled with Carmen's chatter about getting ready for the babies that would arrive in February and her new romance with Derek Zabini. Thankfully I had managed to keep her talking about herself and therefore had successfully avoided the topic of my animagus form. Once dinner was over, Scorpius and I made our way to the headmistress' office.

"Now tell me," McGonagall began with an eager smile, "did you two manage to pull it off?"

"Yes, we did…however there is something that our parents are concerned about." I replied hesitantly.

"Oh that's wonderful you two! But what is their concern?" She asked her brow wrinkled in confusion.

"We both changed into wolves, Professor." Scorpius answered. "Mrs. Weasley made a comment about wolves mating for life and brought up some passage she had read about this happening only twice in wizarding history. She couldn't remember exactly what it said, but is now looking for the passage. Our parents agreed that we were to tell no one but you until Mrs. Weasley can find the passage and we get this situation figured out."

McGonagall was quiet for a long time, looking neither one of us in the eyes as she stared down in her desk in confusion. "You both turned into wolves?"

"At the same time. It never worked when we tried separately, but when we did it together it worked."

She looked back and forth between us, "I know exactly what passage your Mother was referring to Miss Weasley."

With that she stood up and walked over to one of the book shelves contained within her office. Scorpius and I exchanged nervous looks as she scanned through the shelves until finally she found the one she was looking for and pulled it free. As she made her way back to the desk she started flipping through the book and by the time she sat down she seemed to have found the page she was looking for.

"It's no wonder your Mother has been unable to find it. The only books containing this particular piece of information are contained within Hogwarts; she must have read it while she was still in school." McGonagall stated before she turned her attention back down to the book in front of her. "However, I do believe she is right."

"What is it Professor?" Scorpius asked.

"I'll let you read it for yourselves." She replied and flipped the book around to face the two of us.

"_While exceedingly rare, there have been few cases of the phenomenon referred to as 'animagi mates'. These animagi forms are only animals that are known for having mates for life. Such as wolves, swans, gibbons, and the bald eagle. Both witch and wizard become the same animal, thereby becoming mates. However, the fated pair is only able to successfully achieve transformation when they transform together. This cannot happen between just any witch and wizard that transform for the first time at the same time. This pair is believed to be predetermined by the fates. A pair that would most likely not have ended up together in their natural human lives and therefore need the extra push to bring to life the future the fates have set before them. _

_Not much is known beyond this, given that this has only happened twice within history so far. The first happened in the early 1500's between an heir to a very famously Pureblooded family and a muggle born witch. Not much is known about the success of their union. What is known is that they both became gibbons, and records indicate that while they never did marry, they had a child out of wedlock that was never legally recognized by the Pureblood family. Witch and Wizard were separated and records indicate that they both died young and without any apparent cause except for what healers of the time called 'a broken heart'. The second case occurred in the 1850's, yet again between an heir to a famous Pureblood family and a half blood witch. More is known about this couple; they both changed into bald eagles and lived a very happy life together filled with many legitimate children. They both lived very long lives and when they died, they died together."_

"This, my dears, means that you two are fated to be together. And it appears that that would never have happened naturally, so therefore you have become the third case of animagi mates."


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Author's Note: There was a mistake in the previous chapter that I'll just clear up right now. The second instance of animagi mates was not in the 1850's but the early 1900's. Also, sorry about not updating in a while; a lot of things have been happening in the last few weeks. Hopefully I'll get back into the swing of at least giving you guys an update a week.**

* * *

Due to the situation, McGonagall insisted on calling our parents for a meeting the next day to discuss the contents of the book and what that meant for Scorpius and me. In the mean time, McGonagall gave us a wan smile and ushered us out of her office.

"Should we tell anyone?" I asked as the two of us made our way back to our dorm.

"There's no way we can keep this from Derek and Carmen, Rose. They're our best friends."

"You're right. But right now all I want to do is go to bed and sleep."

"Me too."

We were quiet the rest of the walk, both of us deep in thought about everything that was happening. I kept coming back to one thing though: fated to be together…to live the future the fates have set in place for us. What did that mean? What did any of it mean? We were only seventeen, not even out of Hogwarts yet and already part of our future was already decided for us?

"Rose, I can practically hear your thoughts over here." Scorpius chuckled as we stopped before the portrait to our dorms. "Quit thinking about it tonight, ok? Go to bed, get some sleep, make it through classes tomorrow and then we'll worry about it tomorrow afternoon when our parents come."

"You're right…I'll try. Besides I have to figure out how to explain this all to Carmen."

Scorpius nodded in understanding, "Maybe it's best if we invite Carmen and Derek up here during our break and explain it to them both at the same time?"

I nodded my agreement and shortly after that made my way up the stairs and into my room.

Xxx

"So what's up guys?" Carmen asked curiously as she and Derek snuggled back into our navy blue couch next to each other.

The four of us had eaten a quick lunch down at the Great Hall before racing back up here so we had ample time to explain everything to our two best friends.

"We turned into animagi." Scorpius said simply.

"Why didn't you say so sooner?" Carmen yelled excitedly.

"Well, that's why we're here right now…"

With that said Scorpius and I began to explain to Carmen and Derek all that we had found out in the past two days. By the time we had finished relating what had been in the book both of them were staring up at us with dumbfounded expressions on their faces.

"Shit." Derek breathed.

Carmen could only nod her head in agreement.

"We won't know more until we have our meeting with our parents and McGonagall this afternoon." I added.

Carmen looked skeptical, "What are they going to tell you that you can't figure out for your selves? Or is it that you need someone to spell it out for you?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked.

"You know what I mean, Rose. Face it, you and Scorpius are meant for each other. That's all you need to know. The proof is staring you in the face. You can choose to be separated and turn away from what the fates have planned for you and die or you can accept it, be together and live a long life."

Of course that wasn't what either Scorpius and I wanted to hear at the moment even if she was right. Besides, our parents would have a different perspective and solution wouldn't they? My mother was Hermione Weasley formerly Granger. She wasn't called the brightest witch of her age for nothing.

"Judging by the look on your face, Rosie, I can tell that this won't become real to you until you hear your parents or McGonagall say it to you. So for now, Derek and I will leave because there is nothing we can do for you at the moment. Just know that we're here whenever you need us."

With that said she and Derek left the room, leaving Scorpius and I to exchange nervous glances.

Xxx

Much later found the two of us seated next to our parents in front of Professor McGonagall's desk with the book opened before us. The tension was thick in the air and all of us were nervous, including Professor McGonagall who kept rearranging the quills on her desk.

When our parents had finished reading the article in the book we all turned our attention back to McGonagall who had another book before her on the desk. This book was old and worn, similar to the other book the article came from, yet made of a soft leather that reminded me of a journal.

"Before we make conclusions from the text, I'd like to share what I found. This is the Journal of Circinus Black who married a half blooded witch Henrietta Frost. As you may or may not know Circinus Black was disowned by the Black family after his marriage to Henrietta in 1905 and changed his last name to the unsuspecting Brown so he would not be identified as a member of the Pureblooded Black family. However, what is important is what is contained inside his journal. This journal begins before his marriage to Henrietta and spans the time in which they both turn into animagi and learn of their connection and their lives behind that." McGonagall took a breath, "I believe that this is our best tool for figuring out how to move forward with Rose and Scorpius."

"So what you're saying is that my son has to marry this Weasley girl!" Mr. Malfoy asked impatiently.

"I did not say that, Mr. Malfoy." McGonagall replied coolly.

"This Weasley girl has a name thank you very much." I inserted somewhat insulted by his tone.

I was ignored, "Scorpius is to marry Daisy Zabini when she comes of age; it's been in the works from the moment she was born!

I looked at Scorpius in shock. He was going to have his marriage arranged for him like his parents? But why was I so surprised? He was a pureblood like his parents and all the other Slytherins at school and each and every one of them was a product of their parent's arranged marriage.

Scorpius just stared back at me sadly. Obviously he was not thrilled with the idea.

"Don't tell me you are going to commit your son to a miserable life in a loveless marriage?" My Mom interrupted.

"I'll have you know Granger, that I have found love with my wife despite the fact that our marriage was arranged for us by our parents." Mr. Malfoy shot back and received a warm look from Mrs. Malfoy that assured me that what he said was the truth. While that was nice, I knew that it was exceedingly rare among arranged marriages and from what I knew of Daisy Zabini and her preferences…she and Scorpius would be miserable. Especially if she fancied a guy like my brother.

"I never agreed to the marriage, Father." Scorpius spoke up. "Besides she's only fourteen years old and I doubt she would consent to it either when the time comes especially since Rose's brother is her boyfriend."

That caused the room to explode. The loud shouts and insults were passed back and forth until with one word Scorpius managed to silence the five adults before us, "Quiet!"

With all eyes on him, albeit shocked ones, he continued on, "Here is what is going to happen. Rose and I are going to read the journal and gain a better understanding of what has happened to us. Because we are both of age, we will make our own decisions to what will happen to us in the future without your interference. Is that understood?"

I myself was stunned into silence at Scorpius' words. Malfoys had always had a commanding presence, but Scorpius was the most commanding of all. Paired with the fact that he was a fair and all around good guy, it was even more potent.

Mrs. Malfoy was the only one to speak once he was finished, with a smile on her face that indicated how proud she was of her son, "Of course, honey. Just don't keep us in the dark."

He smiled charmingly back at his mother, "Of course not, Mother. Now if you'll excuse us, we should go to dinner."

With a curt nod to his father and a kiss on the cheek for his mother, Scorpius grabbed the journal and ducked out of McGonagall's office giving me a look that signaled he would be waiting for me at the bottom of the staircase. I quickly said my goodbyes to my parents and with a wave to the rest of them I followed Scorpius out of the room and met up with him at the gargoyle statue.

"I have to say Scorpius, you never cease to amaze me." I grinned as we walked down to the Great Hall.

He didn't say anything, but looked down at me with his signature smirk on his face.

Xxx

_January 27, 1905 Year Seven at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_I have decided to become an animgus. After much consideration I have determined that the benefits of such a skill outweigh the disadvantages of becoming one. However, when I made my way to appropriate section of the library for the necessary text to learn such a skill I found that the book and all others in relation had already been checked out! Someone else is seeking to become an animagus as well and I need to find out who it is!_

_-Circinus Black_

_January 31, 1905 Year Seven at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry_

_After much flirting and charming, I convinced the young half blooded girl who works in the library to find record of who had checked the books out. Of course after the list had been deposited into my hands I Obliviated our conversation from her memory and sent her on her way to shelve books once again. With much excitement I scanned the list of checked out books until finally I came across the name of who had taken all of the books out. To say I was shocked was an understatement. A girl had checked out the books and a half blood at that! Henrietta Frost wants to become an animagus does she? Henrietta, from what I know about the girl, is a seventh year Ravenclaw , top of our class and a half blood. However, I have no idea what the witch looks like._

_-Circinus Black_

_February 1, 1905 Year Seven_

_I had Malfoy point out who Henrietta Frost is at dinner tonight. While nothing special compared to some of the girls sitting down from me at the Slytherin table, I have to say that there is a certain charm about her. From where I sat I could not see the color of her eyes, but her hair is a dark chocolate brown that falls into charming loose curls down her back and around her face. Her face is covered with a smattering of freckles and her nose was buried in a book. Probably one of the books she had checked out. It is clear to me now what my next course of action is. I must charm the girl into letting me study animagi with her. That way I can benefit from her brains and we can both get what we want in the end by becoming animagi even if it is together._

_-Circinus Black_

_February 3, 1905_

_Yesterday did not go so well. When I approached Miss. Frost she lived up to her surname and was very frosty towards me. I had no sooner gotten out a sentence before she gave me a knowing/nasty look and walked away with her head held high. However, today I was met with a bit more success. I managed to get her to confess why she walked away so quickly yesterday. She does not trust Slytherins…and rightfully so. I did not try to say I was different because we both know that is not the truth, so instead I got straight to the point. That she had the books I was interested in. She was very surprised to hear that I wanted to become an animgus and had the nerve to be skeptical of my ability! After I informed her that only her marks were above my own she agreed to think over my proposed plan of studying together._

_-Circinus Black_

_February 4, 1905_

_It would seem that Miss Frost would have done quite well in Slytherin house herself! She sought me out after lunch today after having thought about my proposed plan. Her first words to me were: "What's in it for me?" After my initial surprise I laughed, which further confused her. Once my laughter had died away I asked her simply, "What do you want?" She was quiet for a long time after my question; obviously she had not thought that far in advance. Then she finally replied: "First of all, no one is to know that I am an animagus." After I assured her that I had the same desire as well she continued on, "And I hear that you have connections in the ministry: I want to be an unspeakable." I was surprised to hear this and doubted even my ability to get her such a position. To become an unspeakable was a very hard process and the fact that she was a halfblood with a blood traitor pureblood mother was going to be an obstacle. I quickly told her that I would try my best, for I would, and then the two of us made an unbreakable vow._

_-Circinus Black_

"They made an unbreakable vow over this?" I cried out in disbelief.

Scorpius and I were sitting next to each other on the couch, the book open on my lap so that both of us could read it. Neither of us had spoken as we had digested the entries until now.

"Wouldn't you considering the circumstances?" Scorpius asked.

"I guess."

"Well, I think we read enough for tonight, don't you?"

I nodded my head in reply and snapped the journal shut. After I placed it on the coffee table I stood up and stretched, Scorpius staring up at me from where he still sat on the couch.

"Do you think its coincidence that I'm related to Circinus and he was probably related to the other pureblood in the 1500's?"

"And the fact that the witch has either been a muggleborn or a halfblood? No, I don't think it's a coincidence. But we really can't determine anything with the limited evidence. However, once the dust settles it will be our responsibility to report our case."

Scorpius nodded and stood up. "Good night, Rose."

"'Night, Scorpius."


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Sorry about the delay…I had a paper due this week and went to the best MSU game of the season last night. Anyway, thanks to all of you that reviewed last week's chapter; I tried to put some of that advice to work in this chapter and hopefully it shows.**

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_February 10, 1905_

_Today was our first day of study together in the library. We secluded ourselves in the darkest corner of the library and cast silencing charms as well as disillusionment ones so no one would see the two of us working together or hear anything that we were saying. At first it was very awkward and strained; the two of us fighting over one book at a time, trying to take notes. Finally after fighting over the largest book and succeeding in almost toppling over from our game of tug of war, we both decided it would be best if we divided work and combined our notes at the end of each day. It is a slow process, made even slower by how thorough she is. However, it will be worth it in the end._

_-Circinus Black_

_February 15, 1905_

_The witch is absolutely a pain in the arse! She is too stubborn for her own good! While it is clear to me that we have studied enough to actually start practicing, she insists on going over the notes multiple times before we even pick up a wand. Normally I would be raging and yelling at her, demanding she do things my way, but I realize that this will get me nowhere with this one. If anything if I were to demand anything of her, she would just do the opposite. I will wait then and bide my time, but I will not like it._

_-Circinus Black_

_February 23, 1905_

_Finally! We have begun practice! It is slow going and a bit disheartening given how much time and effort went into research but Miss Frost seems pleased with our progress._

_-Circinus Black_

_March 1, 1905_

_Miss Frost has been sick the last few days in the Hospital Wing and unable to come to our secret practices. Although I was tempted to continue practice on my own, I knew that I would have been upset had she done the same if I was laid up. Madame Belfry assures that Miss Frost only has a mild case of the Dragon Pox and there is no need for concern._

_-Circinus Black_

_March 4, 1905_

_Miss Frost has taken a turn for the worse. I only know this from the gossip running rampant throughout the halls in between classes. Some Hufflepuff girl died yesterday from Dragon Pox and it is rumored that Miss Frost is not faring well despite Madame Belfry's assurances that she only had a mild case. She is not the only one sick, just this morning a first year Slytherin was taken in as well as a fourth year Gryffindor. Every house has been affected._

_-Circinus Black_

_March 5, 1905_

_Despite the risk to myself I snuck into the Hospital Wing last night to check on Miss Frost for myself. I am only concerned about her health because if she dies I will never achieve my goal of becoming an animagus. While before I was sure I could do it on my own, after practicing with her for weeks I realized that she is the key to my success. What I found inside the wing was dire. Both the first year Slytherin and the fourth year Gryffindor were quarantined off from the rest of the hospital wing and I dared not look in at them to see what they looked like. Thankfully Miss Frost was far away from the quarantined section and asleep in her small hospital bed. She was pale next to the crisp white sheets with her dark chocolate hair fanned out across her pillow. On her face I could see some of the pox, but I noted that they were, as Madame Belfry said, mild. It was the number of them that was the concern._

_Suddenly her eyes snapped open and I was left staring down into her dark chocolate eyes. She seemed confused to see me there and was about to call out until I placed a finger over her lips. "You have to get better, we have a deal." Her eyes narrowed and she replied, "I'm trying." To which I replied "Try harder" and walked out of the Hospital Wing._

_-Circinus Black_

_March 11, 1905_

_The first year Slytherin did not make it. The fourth year Gryffindor was sent home to recover and Miss Frost was released from the Hospital Wing this morning looking as good as new. There was a small pox scar above her left eyebrow that I noticed when she sat down across from me at the table in our private corner. And despite her loss of weight, she looked as if she had never had the pox at all._

_-Circinus Black_

_March 31, 1905_

_We are at our wits end! For some reason it is not working. We are both absolutely certain that we are doing everything right, but neither of us has had the desired results! Henrietta is close to giving in but I refuse and insist that we keep trying because I know eventually it will happen…I can feel it._

_-Circinus Black_

_April 2, 1905_

_The strangest thing happened to Henrietta and I. Last night we snuck out after curfew to try our luck outside. This time Henrietta suggested we try together and lo and behold we both changed and at the same time! That we had to transform at the same time is troubling, as well as the fact that we both became the American Bald Eagle. I had no idea what animal we were after the transformation but once we reverted back to our human forms Henrietta quickly filled me in. She also seemed to be extremely nervous and remained quiet until I practically forced her to say what was on her mind. "Bald eagles mate for life." She had said. "It is no coincidence that we are both bald eagles, Circinus." It was the first time she had used my first name and I felt a chill go through me. I did not dwell on that though and instead focused on what she was trying to say._

_I laughed, "Are you saying the two of us are supposed to mate for life together?" She didn't laugh as I expected her to and instead stared back up at me uncertainly. "That's ridiculous! I'm a pureblood and you're a halfblood there's no way we could 'mate for life' even if we wanted to." I was sure it was a coincidence, but Henrietta did not feel that way or appreciate what I said for she ran away back towards the castle._

_-Circinus Black_

"I can't believe she would have picked up on the implications that quickly." Scorpius scoffed as he ran a hand through his hair.

"Well, obviously she did because he wrote it down. He didn't believe her either and we both know that eventually they got married and lived a long life together. She was smart; after all she was a Ravenclaw." I grinned proudly.

Scorpius rolled his eyes at me, "We were right about it not being coincidence. Her pureblood mother was a blood traitor. Your father's family has been known to be blood traitors for years. Paired with the fact that my Grandmother was a Black is a pretty strong indication of this not being a coincidence."

I nodded in agreement, "But the question is, what is so important about us or Circinus and Henrietta coming together?"

"We'll have to keep reading his journal and hope that that question is answered in there." Scorpius sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

I stared at him for a minute. Yes, he was attractive; there was no doubt about that. Most of the girls in school would kill to be in the same room alone with him let alone be stuck with him for the rest of their lives. However, I never had seen him that way. I had always respected him though; for his intelligence as well as his ability to get over many years of family prejudice.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked suddenly, stirring me from my thoughts.

"This…this whole thing is screwed up."

Scorpius nodded, "Yeah it is. One day we're just head boy and girl trying to become animagi and the next thing we know we're being told that we belong together!"

I started laughing then and after a minute Scorpius joined in. A few minutes later we were still laughing, only now it was starting to become a little hysterical on my part. Scorpius broke off suddenly and put an arm around my shoulders.

"We'll figure this out." He assured me.

I shook my head, "No matter what we find out it only answers why we were destined to be together; it doesn't reverse anything. Whether we like it or not we are stuck together forever."

His arm dropped from my shoulders and he moved away, yet again raking a hand through his already disheveled hair.

"Do you find me attractive, Scorpius?" I asked suddenly.

He turned toward me in surprise, "I'd be a fool if I didn't Rose."

"Did you know that I've never had a real boyfriend before? I had a boyfriend back before Hogwarts when my parents sent me to muggle school, but that doesn't count. It's hard being friends with Carmen sometimes because of that; everyone staring at her, everyone wanting to be with her. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind not being objectified, but-"

"Rose, you are oblivious. Carmen has certain obvious assets that aid in her attractiveness, but you have classic beauty. I remember the first time I saw you as an eleven year old and I couldn't help but think of that muggle cartoon princess."

My brow crinkled at that and I asked skeptically, "You know Disney movies?"

"Yes."

"What princess are you talking about? Not Ariel, I hope. She is the only red head of the bunch, but-"

"Not The Little Mermaid, the one from the one about the beast."

"Beauty and the Beast? Belle?"

"That's the one! I know she's not a red head, but you reminded me of her anyway. Especially since you were always in the library, but beyond that, you were nice to me; the Slytherin beast. I'm just as freaked out about this as you are. We've never really known each other that well and all of a sudden we're being told that we're destined for each other. But we have something; we respect each other and it helps that I find you attractive."

"I find you attractive too." I replied awkwardly, feeling my cheeks burn at my admission. "So what are you saying?"

"We take this day by day. My parents had an arranged marriage; they didn't love each other when they went in but after some time they grew to love each other. That's probably what's going to happen to us."

I nodded my head in agreement. So we wouldn't have the all consuming love I had always dreamed about. The kind of really passionate love that people like my parents had, but I knew Scorpius was right. Good would come out of this in the end, even if it was hard to believe at the moment.

Xxx

"I can't believe I have found you without Scorpius or with your nose buried in that journal!"

I jumped a bit from where I sat in one of the hard wooden chairs at my favorite table in the library. Earlier I had determined that where I liked to sit was nowhere near close to Henrietta and Circinus' spot in the library, but I had found it. I knew that the table and chairs were probably not the same but I had found something in the wood working of the wall behind them. A simple little heart had been carved in with magic with 'C&H' carved inside.

When I turned around it was to see Carmen coming towards me with her books in hand and without Derek in tow.

"I could say the same about you and Derek."

"I don't want to talk about Derek right now." She sighed as she put her books down on the table and took a seat across from me. I was busy studying for N.E.W.T.S and judging from her pile of books she probably was about to as well. However, I wasn't about to let her start before she explained herself.

"What happened?" I asked.

"I need to study, Rose."

"No you don't, because you know that you will not be able to really concentrate until you get whatever it is off of your chest. Now tell me."

"Fine. So we were out on the Quidditch pitch practicing shots when he suddenly challenges me to a race. Of course I agreed and then I won the race, no big deal. But not to Derek; instead of challenging me to something else like he used to do back before we were dating, he gets mad and storms off. It's like suddenly because we're a couple it's not okay when I give him a blow to his male ego. What difference does it make whether I'm kissing him or not? Just challenge me to something else and try to beat me at it for Merlin's sake!"

I kept in my laughter at this. It figured that this was the source of their issues. "Well, tell him that. The two of you get off on competition. Maybe if the stakes were raised now that you are a couple he would be more willing to issue more challenges?"

Carmen smiled, "I like the way you think. So, I take it the two of you are no closer to figuring out why you are fated to be together than before?"

"Yup, we're hoping that Circinus figured out why he and Henrietta were together, but we haven't come across it yet. We've only just got up to the point where they've transformed for the first time."

Carmen quirked a brow at me, "I take it that you two are too busy about thinking about the whys instead of thinking about the actual future. You know…the future that involves the two of you together?"

"It's all rather alarming, Carmen. One day the two of us are acquaintances going about our everyday lives, respecting each other and all that and the next we're suddenly fated to be together? What kind of sick joke is that? Our parents are freaking out and we're trying to calm them down, but at the same time I want to freak out too! It's nothing against Scorpius or the Malfoys, but I'm seventeen Carmen and I've never had a real boyfriend before and now suddenly I don't have that option because I'm supposed to be with Scorpius for the rest of my life!" I said and felt the rush of frustrated tears I had been keeping in since we found out about this whole mess.

I hated crying, I really did; especially in front of people. But thankfully the person who was witnessing my breakdown was Carmen because I knew she understood me better than anyone else on this planet.

"Rosie, Scorpius has to feel the same way. Have the two of you talked about this?" She asked as she moved around the table to sit next to me.

"He feels the same, and he tried to reassure me about all of this. He said love will grow just as it did for his parents. And he said he found me attractive and compared me to Belle!"

"Belle? As in beauty and the beast?"

"Yup."

"Aww that's sweet! You are a little bit like Belle. Listen, fate knows what it's doing, Rose. Obviously there is something there and it will reveal itself."

"Thanks Carmen."

"No problem. Now what kind of stakes should I put on these challenges?" She asked with a suggestive wink.

Xxx

_April 5, 1905_

_Henrietta managed to avoid me for a couple days, but today I finally cornered her where she couldn't escape. I found her coming out of the Prefect's bathrooms around eight o' clock tonight and quickly proceeded to push her back inside and lock and silence the room to intruders. She was not amused and quickly had her wand out and pointed at me by the time I turned around. I knew it would piss her off more, but I cast Expelliarmus and caught her wand in mid air before she could even utter a word. "You arsehole!" She yelled to which I replied, "I know I am. However, desperate times call for desperate measures, Henrietta. Now I will acknowledge that what I said the other night was not fair and after I've thought about it I have realized that this cannot be mere coincidence." _

_She scoffed and crossed her arms across her chest like she always did when she was angry or when she thought she was right…which meant that she did it a lot, "Figured that out on your own did you? While what you said was not fair, I would just like to point out that the fact you are pureblooded means nothing to me. However, the fact that you are an arrogant, selfish arsehole does mean something to me and that is why _**I**_ wouldn't want to 'mate for life' with you."_

_I would be lying if I said that what she said did not hurt. It did despite the fact that I knew what she said to be true about myself. Hearing that confirmed by her hurt and I'm not exactly sure why. Of course I wasn't going to let her see that I was hurt, "Yes, well of course you're right. However, we need to work this out together."_

_Henrietta shook her head, "No Black, we don't. Like you said it's just a coincidence. As far as I'm concerned our business is completed, all that is left is for you to sign and send in that letter to the Ministry that I drafted for you." With that said she quickly snatched her wand out of my hand and left the bathroom._

_-Circinus Black_

"I think we should call it a night." Scorpius yawned from beside me.

"No! Are you kidding me? It's just getting good. We're about to find out what happens when they're separated from each other. Whether or not they can change by themselves!"

"Couldn't we find that out on our own if we wanted to?"

"Well I suppose so…but wouldn't you rather know everything there is to know before we change again?"

Scorpius sighed, "I guess it wouldn't hurt, but I'm going to bed and you should too. You studied quite a lot today and I know you stayed up last night to study as well."

"NEWTS are coming up, Scorpius, of course I am studying."

"It's January, Rose. Besides, we both know that you are going to do well."

I rolled my eyes, "I have to study if I want to beat my Mom's score."

"Oh, so that's what it's all about?"

"It's kind of expected of me."

"Why should you care what others want out of you? You're not your Mother. Everyone knows that you've inherited your mother's brains, Rose, you don't have to prove it all the time."

"You wouldn't understand. My Mom achieved all that while helping my Uncle Harry defeat Voldemort, and for me not to do as well as her will be an embarrassment."

Scorpius shook his head, "You're wrong, I do understand. My Father is Draco Malfoy. But do you understand who you're really trying to prove yourself to? Is it for yourself or is it just to please everyone else?"

With that said Scorpius set the journal on the coffee table and went to his room. I didn't linger long after he left. Originally I had planned on staying up for a couple hours and getting some extra studying in, but after digesting his words I decided that tonight I needed to get some sleep.


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Not going to lie…I was hoping for a little more feedback on the last chapter than what I got. Keep in mind that reviews motivate me to write and post :)**

* * *

_April 13, 1905_

_I have never felt so terrible in my life. Everything inside of me aches and when I looked into a mirror this morning I looked like I had met death himself. I went to the Hospital wing and consulted with Madame Belfry, but she could find nothing wrong with me. She suggested more sleep, but I slept for eight hours last night!_

_This afternoon I finally saw Henrietta for the first time in days. I could only see her at a distance, but gossip around the dinner table informed me that she seemed to be experiencing the same symptoms as I was. Could these symptoms have something to do with the animagi forms?_

_-Circinus Black_

_April 14, 1905_

_I cannot change into my form! I practically exhausted myself for the last three hours attempting to change into a bald eagle outside on the Quidditch pitch. I finally accepted failure and went inside a half hour ago. Does this mean that Henrietta and I have to change together all the time? Is she able to transform or is it just me? The more important question is will I be able to get close enough to her to ask these questions?_

_-Circinus Black_

_April 15, 1905_

_I cornered Henrietta in the library today. As soon as we stood no more than two feet apart I felt my aches abandon my limbs, leaving no sign that they had ever burdened my body. I watched as the dark circles disappeared from under Henrietta's eyes and color washed back into her skin. It was truly amazing. I felt wonderful and I could tell she felt the same, despite the fact she seemed to be trying to glare at me. _

"_Don't lie and tell me you didn't feel that." I stated hoping that if I got her to confess we could get to the heart of the matter instead of her wasting time hating and glaring. She nodded slowly, "I haven't been able to transform, have you?" I shook my head and proposed that we meet outside tonight and try to transform together. She agreed much easier than I expected and I smiled, reaching up suddenly to tuck a loose piece of hair behind her ear. We both startled at the contact. What had possessed me to do such a thing? I had no idea, but my fingertips tingled from where I had made contact with her and the dark blush coloring her face told me she must be experiencing something similar._

_I arrived early outside for our meeting and smiled warmly as Henrietta approached with her cloak wrapped tightly around her body to keep the cool April wind off of her skin. It was a bit chilly tonight, but not so much that she would have to wrap herself so tightly. She was guarding herself and I could guess that she was guarding herself from me. She surprised me when she spoke first: "Obviously we cannot be separated for long stretches of time; I felt so awful, but as soon as we were close today in the library it all changed."_

_I nodded my agreement, "It would seem we are connected more than we thought." Henrietta nodded and continued on, "Especially if we can only transform together. Let's try."_

_It worked. In less than ten seconds the two of us were in the air together, staring at each other strangely. Why was this happening to us? Why did I feel so connected to her as I stared into her eyes? Suddenly she flew away and after only a moment's hesitation I followed eagerly. We flew for hours until finally we landed in the Quidditch pitch and changed back to our human forms in exhaustion. We laid there on the cool grass and stared up at the stars together, our breathing heavy from our previous exertions. She finally broke the silence, "Why is it that I can never find your constellation?"_

_I knew what I needed to do then; every cell inside me demanded I do it. I sat up and looked down into her face that was still concentrated on finding the constellation I was named after. Finally I said something, "You aren't looking hard enough." And then I leaned down to kiss her. For a frightening moment I thought she would pull away and slap me in the face or pull her wand and hex me. Or maybe she would do both. Instead she went utterly still and after a moment's hesitation she wrapped her arms around my neck and opened her lips for me. The moment felt completely right and only when I ran out of breath did I pull away from her. "Told you so." She whispered below me. "We're fated to be mates for life, can't you feel it?"_

_I could feel it._

_-Circinus Black_

"Tomorrow night you and I are going outside and trying to transform individually and if that doesn't work we'll transform together." Scorpius said suddenly as he snapped the journal shut. I startled at his words, still wrapped up in the romance of Circinus' journal entry, but I quickly snapped out of it and shook my head in agreement.

"We already know what's going to happen, Scorpius." I pointed out as he stood to go to bed.

"We should experience it for ourselves."

He disappeared a moment later up his staircase leaving me wondering what all we were going to experience tomorrow night. Did whatever this connection was force Circinus to kiss Henrietta? No, it couldn't have. It was obvious in his other journal entries that he was starting to feel something for her before they had even successfully transformed. The connection only made that stronger and forced him to act on what he felt. It wasn't as if the fates stuck together two random people that could never naturally feel that way for the other.

So did that mean that I felt something more than I had previously thought for Scorpius? No, it couldn't be. And I was sure he had to feel the same about me. We were friends and nothing more before all of this started. But now…it was different… we weren't just friends anymore. After the talk we had had I noticed him watching me and caught myself doing the same to him a few times. I would find myself staring at his lips wondering what it would be like to kiss him. But then I would remind myself that I would be glad to know what it was like to kiss anyone.

Xxx

"Rose! Thank Merlin, there you are!" Carmen yelled frantically as she ran towards where I sat at the Ravenclaw table eating my lunch and threw herself into my arms. I wrapped my arms around her and sent the rest of the Great Hall a look that had most of them looking away and rubbed her back as she cried into my shoulder.

"What's going on, Carmen?"

She took in a gasping breath and handed me a piece of paper.

_Carmen,_

_Your mother is in St. Mungos. Early this morning she went into a premature labor and as of now the doctors are unsure of both her life and that of the twins. Please take care of Roger and the girls and be rest assured knowing that your other two siblings are safe with your aunts. I'll write once I have more news._

_Love,_

_Papa_

"Oh Carmen, I'm so sorry." I whispered feeling tears come to my own eyes.

She was still wrapped up in my arms and out of the corner of my eye I saw Derek approaching as well as Roger and her twin sisters. One look down at my best friend told me that she was in no condition to deal with her younger siblings. Thankfully, Carmen had followed my advice and had found great success with her stakes. However, now I was subjected to the constant challenges going back and forth between them every day. I beckoned Derek over and after having him read the letter quickly I passed my best friend off into his care with a reassuring smile.

"I'll take care of them okay? You let Derek take care of you."

After Derek led her away from the table her siblings reached me with worried faces. This was the worst. How was I supposed to tell them their mother might die along with two siblings they had never even met yet? Yet, I had to because there was no way I was going to let them just read the letter in front of me.

"Let's go somewhere a bit more private."

They followed me out of the Great Hall without hesitation and as I turned a corner down the hallway I noticed Scorpius following behind us curiously. I didn't pay much attention to him at the moment and instead led the three of them in an abandoned classroom.

"Your Mom went into premature labor today and the doctor's aren't sure if she or the babies are going to make it." I said simply after deciding that sugar coating it wasn't going to help any of them.

Immediately the twins dissolved into tears, throwing their arms around one another for support. Roger just stared at me in shock before he moved over and gathered both of his sisters in his arms.

"Your Dad will write Carmen again when he knows more."

With that I left the three of them alone knowing there wasn't much else I could do for them besides leave them alone to cope with this horrible situation. Outside the door Scorpius was waiting for me, a concerned look on his face. Without even stopping to think about what I was doing, I threw my arms around his middle and buried my head in his chest as tears overcame me.

"What's going on?" He asked quietly as his hands rubbed my back comfortingly.

"Carmen's Mom went into premature labor and she and the babies might die."

Scorpius pulled me closer and held me quietly until my tears quieted. I stood there a moment in his embrace, embarrassed that I had gotten so close to him and had cried in front of him. But I was even more startled by the fact that I didn't really care whether he saw me crying or not. From my position in his arms I looked up into his face only to have him look down at me in concern. I quickly moved away.

"I'm sorry…I shouldn't have-"

"Rose," He interrupted, "it's fine. Are you alright?"

I shook my head, "Yes, Derek is taking care of Carmen and I think I'm just going to go to the library and throw myself into some studying to take my mind off of this. I'll see you tonight down by the Black Lake."

With that said I turned and walked away from him and headed towards the library.

Xxx

By the time it was time for me to meet Scorpius outside for our transformation I had found Carmen and Derek in our common room which Scorpius had let them in to use for privacy. She had received another letter from her father which this time held good news. The twins had been delivered safely and both Mother and babies were doing well despite the fact that they were early. With the help of magic their lungs would develop to regular size within a day and instead of being in an incubator for weeks as they would have been in the muggle world, the babies would be going home in a few days.

Scorpius was waiting for me by the edge of the Black Lake, his cloak wrapped around him tightly holding off the late January chill. He turned at the sound of my approach and smiled invitingly at me.

"How's Carmen?" He asked kindly.

"Better, she got another note from her Father. Her Mother and the twins are alright."

"What were they named?"

I giggled a little at their names and remembered what Carmen had said about them months ago, "Alexander and Alejandro."

We fell into an awkward silence after that, both of us knowing that what we were about to do would confirm beyond all doubt what we suspected. We were fated to be mates for life. I already knew it, but after tonight there would be absolutely no doubt. This would be the future; he would be my future and I would be his. We would have to learn to love each other because there was no way I could look into the future without the possibility of love.

"Well, let's do this then. I'll go first." Scorpius said and then tried to no avail to turn into his wolf form.

With a nod to me I tried and failed as well.

"Together then…one…two…three."

Sure enough after only a few seconds I was on all fours staring at Scorpius in his wolf form. His silver fur gleamed in the moonlight. It wasn't a full moon, but the moon provided enough light for the two of us to see each other clearly. But of course we were wolves now so that probably enhanced our vision as well as other senses. I breathed in and could clearly smell Scorpius who was standing before me. He smelled divine! Without realizing what I was doing I took a step closer to him and took in another whiff. He seemed to be doing the same to me, but I didn't mind because he smelled delicious!

All of a sudden he nipped my flank playfully and darted off away from the lake, enticing me to chase after him and his delicious scent. I caught up to him easily and tackled him to the cold snow and together we rolled around in the white stuff.

After what felt like hours we fell back to the snow exhausted and I felt a tingle run down my spine. When I held my hand up to my gaze I realized I was back in human form and freezing cold. Beside me Scorpius was sitting up carefully, wrapping his cloak around himself tightly.

"We better get inside before we catch our deaths." He stated as he got to his feet and held a hand down to me.

I allowed him to help me up and together we walked back up to the castle, his smell still in my nose.


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Sorry I didn't get this posted on Saturday, but it was my Dad's birthday and he was in town for the football game so I spent the day with him. This Saturday there won't be an update either because I'm going to my Mom's for the weekend and she has no internet! However, I will try to post before I leave Friday morning, but I'm not promising anything. Also, updates might slow down because it's getting to be that time of the semester when everything is due all around the same time and then of course there are the holidays. Anyway, reviews are much appreciated and I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)**

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_May 13, 1905_

_It seems as if it has been ages since I have written in this journal, but I have been rather busy. After the night I kissed Henrietta I have been courting her…albeit secretly. What we feel for each other is genuine, but we both know that no one else would understand…they certainly would not understand what has happened to us. Until then I will steal kisses from her in darkened doorways and abandoned classrooms and meet with her late at night on the grounds for a night time fly in our forms._

_-Circinus Black_

"Forbidden romance! It's the best!" Carmen sighed dreamily from where she sat next to me on the couch. "Just like you and Scorpius!"

I arched a brow, "How so?"

Carmen rolled her eyes, "Don't be daft, Rose. The Malfoys and the Weasleys have hated each other for a long time. Nothing says forbidden romance like you, Juliet, being with Scorpius otherwise known as Romeo."

It was my turn to roll my eyes, "This is not a Shakespearean tragedy, Carmen."

"I didn't say it had to end in tragedy. However, you have to admit that forbidden love is exciting. In fact, I would argue that it makes that love stronger."

I nodded, "Well of course. When a couple is fighting to prove their love to the rest of the world all they have is each other."

"At least you and Scorpius will have Derek and me."

"Carmen,-"

She cut me off by holding up a hand, "Don't even say it. You and Scorpius both know that it's only a matter of time before you fall in love. You two need to kiss; that's what it took for Circinus and Henrietta."

"It was obvious their feelings for each other were developing before that though. Scorpius and I have been nothing more than friends."

"Some would argue that friends turned into lovers make the best relationships. Hmm… who do we know that were friends before they married? Your parents!"

There was no winning this argument with Carmen. Of course it was hard to win arguments with her; she could go on for hours…whether it made sense or not didn't matter. She won by default most of the time because I usually was too exhausted to argue anymore. I had learned it was a family trait; the tactic was even more exhausting and frightening in fluent Spanish.

Carmen continued to ramble on in a mixture of English and Spanish about how deeply in denial the two of us were. I successfully tuned her out and picked up Circinus' journal to continue reading when Scorpius walked into the common room with his school bag slung on his shoulder.

"What are you ladies up to?" He asked with a smile.

"Rose was showing me the journal and we were reading about their romance." Carmen replied quickly. "Do you keep a journal Scorpius?"

"I do." He replied.

"Good; who knows…years from now another couple will be reading your story." With that said Carmen stood up, grabbed her bag and headed for the door. "See you two later; Derek challenged me to a broom race with some high stakes."

"What are the stakes?" Scorpius asked curiously.

"You do not want to know, Scorpius, trust me." I quickly said to which Carmen grinned. "It's bad enough I'll end up hearing all about them later."

Once she was gone Scorpius took her spot on the couch next to me.

"Were you reading ahead without me?"

"Only one entry." I replied and gestured to it with my finger.

I waited with the book in my lap as Scorpius quickly read the short entry on the page. I could smell him again. He didn't smell like he did when we were in our forms, but this scent was just as intoxicating and delicious. He smelled like cedar with a hint of cinnamon, both scents I had always loved. It was weird that I had never noticed his scent before. Did that mean he noticed how I smelled too? Oh Merlin, what if it I didn't smell good to him? What if I smelled like an old potions book or bad pumpkin juice?

"Let's read more before we start studying." He said from beside me and reached over to turn the page of the journal that still rested in my lap.

_June 17, 1905_

_Henrietta and I both have fears for what will happen to us after gradation next week. I already know what is expected of me upon my return home. My marriage had been arranged when I was only a few months old, when the Nott family welcomed a daughter into their family. Carina is in the same year as Henrietta and I which means that this summer we will be expected to wed. I have no desire to do so. I am in love with Henrietta and though I know she loves me we have never said so to one another._

_I fear for her as well. Her parents also have hopes of her making a good connection in marriage and have brushed aside her wishes to work in the ministry despite the fact that she was given a job offer immediately following graduation. Though they have not picked someone, we both know that many eligible gentlemen, which have no problem marrying a halfblood, will be presented before her in the weeks following graduation. And we have no doubts that she will be expected to wed in late summer as well._

_I am determined for that not to happen, but how do the two of us avoid such a fate? The answer seems to be clear, but can we go through with it? Can we afford not to go through with it? After only a couple weeks apart we were practically dead, what would a lifetime do to the two of us?_

_-Circinus Black_

"He must mean marriage. The question is how they managed it?"

"It is quite easy to escape the fate your parents have set before you if you're willing to commit to the consequences." Scorpius whispered.

"Sounds as if you're speaking from experience." I commented.

"My Father was always easy to bend to his Father's will. I am not like him. He did not want to marry my Mother, but luckily they grew to love each other. He thinks I will have the same luck; I doubt it. Thankfully he is not Lucius and my Mother would not allow him to disown me like Circinus' parents."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I am not going to marry Daisy Zabini when that time comes, nor am I going to do what is expected of me by my parents."

This was exactly why I respected him. There were years upon years of pureblood elitist thinking in his family, but he turned his back on them all and didn't care what any of them thought about it.

"Scorpius, what do I smell like to you?"

He looked at me in surprise then took a loud sniff. I watched as his mouth curved into a smile and waited for what he was going to say.

"I smelled you the other night in our wolf form and thought it was the best thing I had ever smelled; I didn't think it could be topped actually. But right now you smell bloody good to me. Like freshly baked pumpkin bread; that's always been my favorite smell."

_June 24, 1905_

_We have done it. We have run away from our parents to France. The last week of school we made plans and I pulled all the money I could from my inheritance before it could be revoked for us to start a life together there. Then after graduation we quickly apparated away with all of our possessions shrunk and placed inside our pockets, to the town house I had bought for the two of us in Paris. Henrietta had already agreed to marry me a week ago and once we arrived we quickly made arrangements to be married at the French Ministry._

_I feel no regret in leaving my family behind, for they never really loved me. No one has ever loved me but Henrietta. However, I hurt for her because I know she and her parents share a love that I will never know and because of me she has had to give that up. She assured me that she doesn't need that love as long as she has mine and I hope that is enough to sustain her for the rest of her life._

_And as one last punch in the gut to my family; I took the heirloom wedding ring set that had been passed down for generations and will soon have both rings on my beloved's finger. My younger brother will have to find a new ring for his arranged bride._

_-Circinus Black_

"So Circinus' brother must be your great great Grandfather." I stated, never really having thought about it before.

Scorpius nodded his head, "Can't remember his name off the top of my head but his son was Cygnus which was my Grandmother's father."

"Your parents love you don't they Scorpius?"

"They do, do not worry about that, Rose. My Father has always been a bit distant, but over the years my Mother has opened him up."

"Poor Circinus." I sighed.

"He had Henrietta's love." Scorpius pointed out. "And apparently he died a pretty happy man if the number of children they had is any indication."

I quirked a brow at him, "How do you know how many children they had? Did you read ahead without me?"

Scorpius chuckled, "Of course not, but he has a family tree in the back of the journal. I only glanced at it once and-"

I had quickly flipped to the back of the book and looked over the family tree as Scorpius continued to talk…that was until I cut him off, "Oh my gosh! The tree has been charmed so that every time a descendent of theirs is born their name is put on the tree! Same with marriages!"

Scorpius' eyes grew wide and he scooted closer to me to get a better look at the family tree.

At the top of the page were Ciricinus and Henrietta. Immediately under them were ten children that carried the last name Brown. The tree continued on and I gasped when I recognized a name on the tree. My mother had spoken of her often and not very fondly.

"Lavender Brown is a descendent! That's the girl my Dad snogged in his sixth year! My Mom despised her!"

Scorpius laughed.

"Ugh… that means Jeremy Finnegan is a descendent." I sighed as I followed the line down that lead from Lavender and Seamus Finnegan's names to their only child, Jeremy. "Let's keep this to ourselves. If Carmen found out she would probably end up accidentally saying something since she hates that kid so much."

"Agreed."

We both turned back to our studying then, but I swear I thought I heard him take a sniff of the air near me again.

Xxx

It was a Hogsmeade weekend and while Carmen and her siblings went home to visit with their Mother and new brothers, Scorpius and I made our way down to the village to meet with our parents at the Three Broomsticks. Thankfully Mr. Malfoy had arranged for the six of us to meet in a private parlor upstairs so no one would overhear our conversation…especially since I knew yelling would ensue.

Today we would tell our parents what we had discovered in the journal and what that meant for our futures. Someday we would be together as Circinus and Henrietta were and there was no way of avoiding it or stopping it.

Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy were already waiting for the two of us with a pot of tea and some scones when we arrived in the private parlor. I was not surprised to see that my parents had not arrived yet. Knowing my Father, he was probably dragging his heels while my Mother was probably dragging him over here to meet with us.

"Mother, Father." Scorpius acknowledged with a nod to his Father and bent to kiss his Mother on the cheek.

"Hello Rose, it's lovely to see you again." Mrs. Malfoy smiled kindly.

I smiled back in return and was about to make a comment back to her when my parents entered the room. Sure enough, my Mom's hand was tightly grasping my Father's and leading him forcefully into the room.

"Sorry for the delay, Rose. You know how your Father can be." Mom said with an eye roll and a scathing look at Dad.

Mr. Malfoy cleared his throat, "It's good to see some things never change. Shall we begin this meeting?"

"Yes, please take a seat Mr. and Mrs. Weasley." Scorpius said kindly and I moved over to stand beside him before our parents.

I honestly had no idea where to even begin, but I knew that Scorpius would and I was more than happy to let him take the reins on this one. He was much better with words anyway, and on top of that he was a charmer.

"We have read enough of the journal to find out that Rose and I will end up together. It appears that separation causes physical pain. Therefore the four of you should prepare yourself for the idea that we will be in each other's lives for a long time. At the moment Rose and I have never really had a relationship beyond friendship, but it is clear to us that fate hasn't given us any other choice but to try something else."

I turned wide eyes on Scorpius. Did he really have to come out with all of it at once? As expected our parents did not take that well.

"You are only seventeen! Rose has a career ahead of her-" My mother cried, only to be cut off by Mr. Malfoy.

"-is arranged to be married to Daisy-"

"-she will not marry a Malfoy…a Malfoy for Merlin'-" Dad interrupted who was then interrupted by Mr. Malfoy in return.

"-and she is a Weasley not to mention a half bloo-"

"Draco that is enough! I thought we agreed that blood did not matter?" Mrs. Malfoy said firmly cutting off all other protests from the rest of our parents.

"It does when it comes down to who our son will marry."

"Do what you must Father, but this will happen. It's too powerful to ignore. Circinus gave it all up for Henrietta and they lived a happy life together filled with many children! You and mother married as nothing more than acquaintances and love grew from that; hopefully the same will happen for Rose and me as we begin this journey together. So go ahead and disinherit me, because Rose and I cannot deny what fate has decided for us."

At his words I felt something grow warm within me. I had never been as proud of anyone as I was of him in that moment.

"I am bloody well _not_ disowning my son, Draco. So you think very carefully before you open your mouth." Mrs. Malfoy warned.

Mr. Malfoy was quiet for a long time and when he spoke we all seemed to breathe a sigh of relief, "Do what you must. I only worry for your happiness."

"Hey! Just wait a second. What about what my daughter wants? Maybe we don't want her to marry a pureblood, Malfoy!"

"Ronald!"

"You heard him Dad, it's our fate. Besides it's not like we're going to go off and get married; we're young we both want careers. And besides that, I think Scorpius just proved what kind of man he is. So if you don't mind, I think Scorpius and I are going to go enjoy our Hogsmeade trip."

With that said I waved goodbye to both of our Mothers and led Scorpius out of the room by his hand. I led him all the way out of the Three Broomsticks and down the street to Honeydukes. Scorpius said nothing as we entered the building and I only let go of his hand when I spied a display of sugar quills in the corner.

He was chuckling as he followed behind me, "What are we doing in here?"

I gave him a look like he was dumb, "To get candy. Bloody hell… after that kind of meeting I need some sweets."

He nodded his head in understanding, "Very true. Get whatever you want, it's on me."

"I couldn't do that."

Scorpius smiled, "Yes, you could and you will. Might as well get used to it now for when we're married."

He laughed at my shocked expression, "What do you say Weasley, should we make this day into a date? Give in to this fate thing?"

My heart was racing as I avoided his intense gray eyes by carefully picking out the sugar quills I wanted. When I finally summoned the nerve to look back into his eyes I smiled.

"I guess, but I want some chocolate frogs too."


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I don't own anything you recognize**

**This would have been posted sooner, but I got caught up making paper snowflakes. Anyway, thanks again for all of the wonderful reviews, I really appreciate them. And those reviews have also pushed me to almost finish the story! Don't worry, I'm many chapters ahead of what I've posted so far.**

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Despite the fact that we had come to terms with our 'fate', something was still unclear to us. Why were we fated to be together? We were intellectual beings; we wanted to understand everything there was to understand about this whole situation. Would we accomplish something fantastic together that would change the wizarding world forever? We had no idea and we still didn't know why Circinus and Henrietta had been fated to be together either.

Scorpius had come up with one theory that I had immediately dismissed. He had laughingly said that Circinus and Henrietta had been fated together so that one day their descendent, Lavender Brown, would aid in pushing my parents together so I would be born and be able to do whatever it was I was supposed to do with Scorpius. First of all, that was a little too complicated to be the truth. Secondly, I was sure that one way or another my parents would have ended up together without Lavender Brown. And thirdly, my parents didn't even get together immediately after the fiasco with Lavender Brown.

After our meeting with our parents we kept reading the journal but found no clues. Most of the entries detailed their day to day life, which while sometimes was very romantic, was otherwise pretty boring. After a few months we lost interest and the journal remained on the coffee table for a long time before I finally picked it up the night before our N.E.W.T.S.

After a few months of dates Scorpius and I still weren't a couple, however, we had come to learn a lot more about the other. The most we had ever done was hold hands and we'd never done it where anyone could see. We were very private about the whole business and had decided that after we were out of Hogwarts we would go on proper adult dates, not Hogsmeade weekends.

Therefore, it was the night before N.E.W.T.S and Scorpius had confiscated all of my books so I could not study anymore. To say I was angry was an understatement. Scorpius had laughed it off and went to take a bath while I was left pouting in the common room. Sure, I had been studying for over a year, but to not study the night before? That was just crazy.

So it was in my boredom that I picked up the journal for the first time in months and started flipping through it idly. That's when I found it; what we had been looking for all along.

_September 12, 1948_

_We have finally done it! For years Henrietta and I have been conducting research on our strange transformation and have found one other incident that had been vaguely recorded many years ago. After more than a year we painstakingly wrote a whole book dedicated to animgi under a false name and included a section about our affliction. Our only hope is that someday that particular entry will become useful to some other couple faced with the same. However, the only thing we have not figured out is why it was we were fated to be together. Maybe someday we'll know._

_-Circinus Brown_

I frowned at that; so part of what they had been fated for was to write that book that had successfully helped many an animagi since then. There were many other books on the topic but after fully reading the book which contained the article I had decided it was the most informative and helpful for an average wizard or witch to achieve their goal of becoming an animagus. But still, that couldn't have been the only thing they were fated for. I continued my flipping, hoping maybe I would stumble upon something once again.

_November 23, 1977_

_At the moment I sit by my wife's death bed wondering why seventy two years ago we were mated for life. I had hoped that over the years that answer would become clear to us. While I am happy with what we achieved together, I still cannot help but wonder and would like my wife to know before she leaves this world. At this moment our ten children and many of our grandchildren and their children are downstairs offering their support and love during this time, secretly wondering what I will do when Henrietta leaves me. I do not know if I could even survive without her. We have never been apart since that time so many years ago at Hogwarts and we have never since experienced the pain we did back then. I can only assume that with her death I will die too._

_Maybe I will just have to settle for knowing that without what happened to us I never would have looked at Henrietta more than once and would have never known the life I have led. It has been a wonderful life and I know that I would have suffered had I stayed a Black and done what was my duty. If I am not to know why we were put together I can take comfort in the fact that fate gave me the love of my life._

_-Circinus Brown_

_November 24, 1977_

_Mother and Father passed away last night and as their oldest son I felt it was my responsibility to put one last entry in. Father was wrong, the reason they were put together became clear to me and my brothers and sisters years ago. New blood needed to be introduced into the line and that is what they achieved. I watched during my years at Hogwarts while our pureblooded classmates slowly became a little more mutated and slightly dumber year after year. While it is true that not all of the blood lines have reached such a level yet, we are sure that it won't be long before new blood will need to be introduced once again._

_With that said, my parents did what fate wanted them to without hesitation. Many thought they were crazy for having ten children but they loved us all equally and gave us what they could. And most of all they taught us all that blood does not matter._

_-Henry Brown_

It's all about introducing new blood into the blood lines? But that makes no sense. My father comes from a long line of purebloods and surely what my mother passed down to me wasn't enough to cleanse the bloodline sufficiently. However, Henrietta was a halfblood as well and that was her purpose.

"Did you find something?" Scorpius asked curiously as he plopped down beside me on the couch.

"It's all about introducing new blood into the blood line! Read this!"

It only took him a few minutes to read the three entries I found and when he finished he turned astonished eyes on me.

"I can't believe it's something so simple." He stated and then began to laugh, "They sure did cleanse the blood line with ten children."

I scowled, "There is no way I'm ever having that many children!"

"It's in fate's hands, Rose." He chuckled.

I hit his arm. Two kids were enough for me and there was no way I could get to ten; I couldn't even make it to seven. When I said this to Scorpius he laughed and said that I _was_ part Weasley.

"You arse! It's always easy for men to make statements like that. I'll have you know that despite the color of my hair I am more like my mother than my father."

"Rose, I know. I'm just messing with you, relax." He laughed. "Quit scowling at me."

I crossed my arms, "No."

"Fine, then I'll take care of it myself."

With that said he leaned in closer and tilted my chin up with a finger to press his lips over mine. In that moment I felt as if a missing piece had been placed into the puzzle that was Rose. I felt just like Circinus had described that night he had kissed Henrietta outside under the stars. I felt complete and the dazed and amazed expression on Scorpius' face after he pulled away was a pretty good indication that he felt it too.

"Wow." He breathed.

"There's no way either of us can deny that we're mates for life now."

"Thank you, Henrietta." Scorpius chuckled before he leaned down and kissed me again.

Xxx

I had no time to think over my new relationship with Scorpius because of N.E.W.T.S. I could tell Scorpius was annoyed at the fact that I hadn't even waited for him before I darted down to the Great Hall, my found books in hand, to eat breakfast and get as much last minute studying done before he or Carmen could interrupt me.

Unfortunately it didn't last long. I had just finished eating a piece of toast and was flipping through my Transfiguration notes when Carmen plopped down next to me and snatched all of my books and notes away.

"Hey!"

"Nope. You're going to do fine. In fact you'll probably put the rest of us to shame today, so I don't want to hear it." She replied as she stood up to place my books and notes under her and then promptly sat back down before I could snatch them back from her. That jerk! There was no way I was going to get them out from under her arse and she knew it!

"Between you and Scorpius I'm going to fail."

Carmen just rolled her eyes and started to butter a piece of toast for herself. I turned away from her with a pout and took a long swig of pumpkin juice. From across the Great Hall I could see Scorpius staring at me and when our eyes met he sent me a scowl to which I stuck my tongue out.

"You two kissed didn't you?" Carmen asked suddenly with a wide grin as she looked back and forth between the two of us.

"How can you possibly tell that? We're scowling at each other!"

Carmen grin grew wider, if that was even possible, "You did! And Rose, you should know by now that I am perceptive when it comes to things like this. Like I can tell that Scorpius is annoyed with you but wants nothing more than to march over here and snog you senseless."

I blushed at that, hoping that no one was over hearing this conversation. But who was I kidding? Carmen was loud.

"Malfoy and Weasley?" Jeremy Finnegan asked from a few seats down. "No way!"

I really hated that kid.

"Shut it, Finnegan, no one invited you in this conversation." Carmen snapped.

"Maybe if you weren't so loud I wouldn't invite myself in, Davies. Maybe you should find better uses for that big mouth of yours like putting it on my-"

I didn't even have time to be shocked by his words before Carmen had picked up a bowl of oatmeal and thrown it right at his face. As the Ravenclaw table broke out into laughter, myself included, I quickly checked the teacher's table to make sure no one had seen. McGonagall just grinned back at me and I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Carmen, ten points from Ravenclaw." I said sadly. "Finnegan, detention tonight with Flitwick for your inappropriate words."

"Unfair!" He screamed as he wiped oatmeal from his face.

"Well, maybe you should think about what you say before you mess with Carmen." I replied easily and then returned to my breakfast as if nothing had happened.

Meanwhile Carmen was muttering in Spanish and sending Finnegan death glares.

"I hate that kid." She finally said in English.

"Don't we all? I honestly cannot figure out why he was placed in Ravenclaw; he isn't that smart."

When breakfast was over, the seventh years hung around and watched as the Great Hall was changed into a giant testing room. During this time, Scorpius and Derek made their way over to the two of us.

"What was that oatmeal about, Carmen?" Derek asked curiously as he slid an arm around her waist.

"You don't want to know; you'll want to beat him up." She replied.

Derek turned his eyes on me as Scorpius slid his own arm around my waist. I was caught off guard for a moment and stiffened. Scorpius chuckled and placed a kiss on the top of my head. I relaxed into him then and was met with Carmen and Derek's pleased smiles.

"I'll collect my prize after N.E.W.T.S." Carmen said proudly with a wink at Derek. "The two of us made a bet when the two of you would officially become an item and I just won."

"What did Finnegan say, Rose?" Derek asked ignoring his gloating girlfriend.

I shook my head, "You really don't want to know. He was insinuating some stuff about Carmen's mouth and that is all I will say. I gave him detention."

Scorpius leaned down and whispered into my ear, "I still can't believe that arse is Henrietta and Circinus' descendant."

I nodded my head in agreement.

Xxx

The next few hours were possibly the longest hours of my life. As everyone expected, I finished before everyone else which left me with more time to wait anxiously as everyone else finished. As I waited I couldn't help but think about how this was it; I was officially done with Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Now all I had to do was wait for my results in the mail; not that they mattered much…I had already been offered a job from the Ministry in the potion development department. However, I had a feeling my name had a lot to do with that. I found that I didn't care too much though because I had always excelled at potions and I was rather looking forward to impressing them.

I didn't have to wait too long before Scorpius excited the Great Hall and made his way over to where I sat. He sat down next to me and took my slightly cold hand into his nice warm one.

"How'd you do?" I asked curiously, knowing that he probably already knew how I did so there was no point telling him that every single test had been easy for me…except maybe Divination.

"I was a little unsure about Divination and a little bit of Charms, but otherwise it was easy." He replied. "And now I am officially done with my education."

"I was just thinking about that before you came out here." I stated.

"The seven years flew by too quickly. So what's next? I know you have a job at the ministry but are you going to live in London?"

"I haven't decided yet, what about you?"

"Well, I'm working for my Father in London and my parents have bought me a town house for graduation. I was thinking maybe you would want to move in since separation will cause us pain."

He must have seen how wide my eyes had gotten at his words for he quickly jumped in again to explain himself, "You'd have your own room! Plus you'd be close to work and out of your parent's house."

"My parents are not going to like it."

"Neither are mine, but if we explain what will happen and show them the journal they'll have to believe us."

"Or we could stay away from each other for a few days and they can see what happens to us when we're separated?"


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**This chapter is pretty short, so I thought I would post it as something to hold you guys over until I post the next chapter which should be much more interesting. That reminds me that along with the next chapter comes a rating change. There isn't an increase in foul language or sex scenes, but there is subject matter that may offend some people so to be on the safe side I'll be upping the rating to 'M' when I post chapter 13. Thanks again for all of the reviews, alerts and favorites! I'll try to post again before I go home for Thanksgiving next Wednesday :)**

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After much discussion Scorpius and I had decided that the best way to get both of our parents agreeable to the living situation was to take drastic measures. That meant being separated from each other. So far, it had been twenty four hours since I had seen him and I felt absolutely dreadful.

Circinus' journal could not convey how bad I felt and how horrible I looked. So as I stood there staring at myself in my bedroom mirror I had to smile at the results. Not only had my hair reverted back to its frizzy ways after being caught in the rain yesterday, but my skin was pale and the bags under my eyes were definitely noticeable. On top of that I was moving slowly because my whole body absolutely ached.

"Rose! Breakfast is ready!"

My Mother only made breakfast for us on special occasions. Like Christmas morning and the first day we returned home from Hogwarts. Judging from the smell wafting up the stairs I could tell she had made my personal favorite, French toast. However, my stomach rumbled in protest. Circinus didn't mention this! I was not going to be denied my favorite breakfast, thank you very much.

When I arrived in the kitchen the rest of my family was already seated around the table, their plates stacked high with French toast and sausage. My plate was filled as well and as I slid into my chair I felt the eyes of my family turn on me followed by a loud gasp.

"Rose, what is wrong?" My Mother positively shrieked as she jumped out of her chair and hovered over me. Her hand went from my cheeks to my forehead before she looked down into my face to assess me closely.

"It's the separation." I croaked, purposely trying to sound miserable…although I was miserable so it wasn't much of a stretch. "It hurts…"

"Oh sweetheart!" She sighed and wrapped me in her arms. "Ronald, do something!"

Through a mouthful of French toast my father asked confusedly, "What am I supposed to do? What separation is she talking about?"

"Good question. Rose, honey, what are you talking about?"

"Circinus wrote about it in his journal, when he and Henrietta were separated this is what happened. And now that I have been away from Scorpius…"

"Ronald, go to the Mal-"

It was at that moment that the floo sounded. After a moment's hesitation we heard: "Weasley! Bring your daughter here this instant!"

It seemed that the Malfoys had beaten the Weasleys to the punch. I bit back my smile of satisfaction and stood up from my chair as my Father did the same. As my parents and I headed for the living room, Hugo stayed right where he was and continued to eat his French toast with gusto.

At first sight of Scorpius standing between his parents looking just as dreadful as I did, I immediately felt as if a weight had been lifted off of my chest. Before I knew what I was doing, I was moving towards him at the same time he was and then we met in a clash of arms.

"Amazing! It looks like nothing happened to either of them!" My Mother remarked as Scorpius and I held onto each other for dear life.

It was true; I felt like nothing had happened to me at all. In fact, I felt great. Although I was pretty sure my hair was still frizzy.

"If this is what happens after a day, they have to live together." Mrs. Malfoy stated. "There is no way I'm going to sit back and watch our children suffer. Draco and I bought Scorpius a town house in London and we are moving him in tomorrow. Rose is free to live there; in fact, I insist on it for their health and happiness."

"I agree." My Mother said quickly and elbowed my Father in the ribs.

They exchanged a long look, silently having a conversation, until he gave in and said, "Yes, that seems to be what is best."

Then all eyes turned to Mr. Malfoy who only said, "We can't let them suffer tonight. Scorpius' things are already packed so if it is agreeable Scorpius can stay here and assist Rose in packing before he comes home to sleep at eleven. I'm sure they can be separated for the length of the night and we'll meet here to go to London at eight."

Xxx

At first I thought having Scorpius hang around my childhood home would be awkward, but after only an hour it became apparent that that was not the case. I had watched in amazement as my Mother absolutely gushed over him and insisted on making him fresh French toast. After that Hugo had asked him to play a game of chess, followed by my Dad taking him into the den and talking to him for an hour! When I finally had him to myself, in my room, he had looked around in amusement while I started to pack my things. Only to be interrupted by my Mother barging in with boxes and what appeared to be teary eyes as she helped me pack as Scorpius watched.

By eight o clock the next morning there had been plenty of tears shed, mostly by my Mother as we shrunk my boxes and slipped them into our pockets for the trip to London. Thankfully she had composed herself by the time we reached the town house where the Malfoys were waiting for us.

Our parents didn't stick around long and left Scorpius and me to become acquainted with our new home. It was official; I was living with a man. Not just any man…my boyfriend…even though we hadn't officially said as much I knew that was what we were. Just as I knew that one day he would be my husband thanks to this mate for life business.

"Should I show you your room?" Scorpius asked. "My Mother decorated the house herself, but you're welcome to make any changes you want, especially to your room."

I came from an upper middle class family. Both my parents held respected positions at the Ministry and had worked hard to provide for my brother and me with a nice house and new robes and school supplies every year. However, I was not prepared for what awaited me on the other side of the door.

Mrs. Malfoy had an eye for decorating and with her unlimited financial resources it certainly was a sight to behold. In no way did this place resemble a typical dwelling of two teenagers recently graduated and living in their first home away from their parents.

"Like I said, you can make any changes you want. I know it's a bit much, but Mother wanted it to be perfect for us." Scorpius said as he took in my gawking look.

"It looks so sophisticated." I commented. "I don't think I want to change it."

"Let's go take a look at your room."

The first thing I noticed as Scorpius ushered me into the room was the door that adjoined mine and Scorpius' room. Immediately I thought of one of those historical romances where the man was a member of the peerage and he and his wife had separate bedrooms; which they ignored in favor of repeatedly enjoying their martial rights.

Scorpius, noticing the location of my gaze, quickly moved around me and shut the door that led into his own bedroom. It was then that I finally turned and actually looked at my new room. I had been afraid that it would be a bit too fancy for my tastes, but that was not the case. The room was painted a lovely shade of lavender accented by deep purple curtains and the purple silk bed spread on the canopied bed. On the walls were a few professional photos of familiar scenery; such as Hogwarts and the Malfoy Manor. And on the bedside table was a picture of Scorpius and me at the Yule Ball.

I smiled at the memory; Professor McGonagall had insisted on taking a picture of the two of us before we left the ball for the night. In the picture Scorpius and I stood there awkwardly next to each other before he finally put his arm around my waist and pulled me to his side in a friendly gesture.

"Do you like it?" Scorpius finally asked.

"Yes, and is that my own private bathroom I see?" I asked gesturing to the other door beyond the closet double doors.

"Take a look."

I about waltzed in happiness when I looked inside and saw marble looking back at me. Not only that, but there was not a trace of Hugo anywhere. At home we had had to share a bathroom and believe me that was not a very sanitary experience. At school Scorpius and I had shared a bathroom and while he was a lot cleaner than Hugo, I still preferred to have my own bathroom.

"Is this a dream?" I asked.

Scorpius chuckled, "Come on, I'll show you my room."

As the child of two Gryffindors my first thought was that his room was going to be decked out in Slytherin colors, but I was pleasantly surprised to see that instead of green and silver his room was a nice chocolate brown accented by a very nice shade of green.

"So what now?" I asked.

"Well, I start tomorrow at Father's office and I was going to inquire about a post for you there." He replied.

"You want me to work at your Dad's company too?" I asked skeptically.

Scorpius shrugged, "Well, where do you want to work?"

"I've had an offer from the ministry in the potions department. I know who I am had a lot to do with my receiving a position there, but I've already got a great idea for some new potions." I replied eagerly. "So, don't worry I will be able to contribute to the bills around here."

"You will do no such thing. This place is completely paid for and the bills are nothing I can't handle with my pay check."

"Then I'll buy groceries."

Scorpius sighed, "I guess I can't stop you. So you cook?"

I nodded.

"I've always eaten what house elves have made."

I scoffed, "You have not lived until you've had Molly Weasley's recipe for Shepherd's Pie!"

"Well, then how about you make that for me tonight?"

"You know, I think I will; that sounds pretty delicious right about now."


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Hopefully this chapter will hold you guys over until after Thanksgiving because I probably won't be posting another until the week of the 28****th****. Anyway, thanks again for all of the reviews, alerts and favorites, they really mean a lot! As I said before I'm changing the rating to 'M' but it's mostly just a precaution for anyone who is particularly sensitive to certain topics.**

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**One Year Later**

Over the course of a year Scorpius and I had adjusted to life together in the city. Once we had both settled into a routine of work and household chores we discovered how well we got along together. After dinner was cleaned up and there were a few hours before bed we slowly started to develop the physical aspect of our relationship. However, it wasn't until about a month ago that we finally moved into one bedroom, combining both of our tastes into Scorpius' large room.

Not only did our relationship grow, but the relationship between our parents had really taken off. While our fathers were still understandably a bit frosty with each other, our mothers had become good friends. Once Mrs. Malfoy invited my Mother to one of her charity benefits that was the end of the open hostility between our Fathers; they had to put up with each other or pay for it from their wives.

And with this truce I couldn't help but wonder if that had been part of the reason Scorpius and I were together; to finally end the hatred between the Malfoys and the Weasleys.

"Rose!" Carmen yelled, pulling me out of my thoughts.

The two of us were currently at Madame Malkins' trying on dresses for Carmen's wedding to Derek. It was torture. We had found my maid of honor dress almost immediately, but finding her wedding dress was a whole other story.

"What do you think of this one?" She asked as she twirled around in front of the mirrors in a dress that practically pushed her breasts up to her chin.

"It's a little busty don't you think?"

"I'm never going to find the right dress in time!" She cried dramatically.

I rolled my eyes, "You have three months, Carmen. Just relax. What I think you need to do is give into your Mother and go to Spain to shop with her and your aunts. You are bound to find something there with them."

Carmen sighed, "I know, I just was really hoping it wouldn't come to that. When my cousin got married last year my aunt decided she would try on wedding dresses too. I'm afraid that she'll do that with me or worse, my Mom will do that!"

I laughed at that, "That's a risk you're just going to have to take."

"Doesn't mean I have to like it." She sighed before she suddenly grinned, "So you and Scorpius have a pretty big night tonight huh?"

I nodded. Earlier this week Scorpius had informed me that we were going somewhere special tonight. It wasn't a special occasion; he had just claimed that he felt like taking me somewhere. Of course Carmen was convinced that he was going to propose to me; I doubted that. While it was true that we had started to sleep together last month, I doubted that Scorpius was ready to take our relationship to the next level. We were only eighteen; with plenty of time to get married. My thoughts turned to Carmen and Derek. While it was true that they were very much in love, I happened to be the only one who knew the real reason why they were getting married already. Carmen had found out she was pregnant only two weeks ago and Derek had proposed and insisted on a quick wedding. The compromise had been three months; not enough time for her to show. Not that it mattered; once the baby was born everyone would know.

"What are you wearing?" She asked. "I think you should wear that little black dress you bought last month with me. Has he seen you in that yet?"

"No, and actually that's a really good idea. Although I know what you're thinking, Carmen and you're wrong. There is not going to be a proposal tonight."

She raised a skeptic brow but didn't say anything else.

Xxx

Hours later I was dressed in my little black dress waiting for Scorpius to emerge from the bathroom. When he finally did I had to do a double take. He was dressed in a pair of old jeans, and an old sweatshirt.

"Well, I'm over dressed." I chuckled.

Scorpius looked me over appreciatively, "You look gorgeous, Rose. However, you aren't dressed for what I have planned."

"What do you have planned?"

He smirked, "You'll see after you go change into some jeans and a sweatshirt."

After I had changed into an old pair of jeans and one of Scorpius' sweatshirts, the two of us stepped outside to our apparition point. Then without further ado, Scorpius slipped his arm around my waist and disapparated us away.

We were surrounded by grass and hills and the only light for what had to be miles was the glow of the full moon. Suddenly I knew exactly what Scorpius had in mind. The other week we had been talking about how we hadn't been able to turn into our animagi forms in a while. And what better time for two wolves to come out and run, then on a full moon with the rest of the real wolves?

"Obviously not what you expected, but welcomed nonetheless I take it?" Scorpius smiled.

With that said we both turned into our animagi forms and proceeded to run around and play in the grassy field.

We had been playing for a bit when a strong breeze stirred the grassy field, causing Scorpius to stiffen and stare at me funnily. With an experimental sniff of the air the wolf part of me quickly realized what was happening and in that moment the human parts of both of us were pushed aside.

We woke up in the middle of the field the next morning disoriented and disheveled. Neither of us said anything as we tried to remember all that had happened last night after we had changed forms. Then suddenly we both looked at each other at the same time in realization.

"We have got to talk to McGonagall about this, Rose."

I nodded my head in agreement, "I'm scared, Scorpius. It's the right time in my humanly courses for that and we both know that it was the right time for my wolf self."

Scorpius pulled me into his strong arms and held me tenderly as we both battled with what had happened the night before. Never had I dreamed that this could happen in animagus form. Of course it wasn't really something they would discuss in the textbooks. However, our case was unusual and maybe the fact that we were both the same creature made it normal.

Xxx

Unfortunately there was no time for a visit to Professor McGonagall as we both had to go to work. All morning I was left to stew while I continued to absent mindedly brew the potion I had been working on for the last week. At lunch time I met Carmen at our favorite bistro and while she talked about her agreement to go to Spain with her Mother to shop there with her aunts, my mind was taken off of what had happened the night before.

"So what happened last night?"

Well, my mind had been off of that.

"If you're wondering if he proposed the answer is no."

"Damn, I owe Derek five galleons and a few extra things I won't mention."

I rolled my eyes at this; the competition would never die between them and that was part of the reason that made them such a good couple.

"Then what did happen?"

"I was over dressed. The two of us just went to have a run in our forms; we hadn't been able to in a while."

Carmen nodded, "I'm telling you Rose; he has to propose to you soon. I want us to be married in the same year so we can have all of our big anniversaries together. That's much more efficient, don't you think?"

Typical Carmen.

After lunch I went back to my potion and my stewing. By the time I was done for the day I was a wreck and by the looks of Scorpius as he walked in the door he felt about the same.

"I wrote to McGonagall today; we have an appointment with her at eight tonight." He stated.

Finally the time came when the two of us were sitting across the desk from McGonagall. After a few minutes of pleasantries we finally got down to business. Thankfully Scorpius took the lead on this, because I was too embarrassed to be discussing this with McGonagall to form a coherent sentence.

"As you know we have the same animagi form and the other night during the full moon we went out to change after a while without changing," Scorpius began and McGonagall nodded for him to continue, "Well, let's just say that we were overcome by certain animal urges."

McGonagall nodded and turned her gaze to the desk as she thought. Meanwhile my cheeks were flaming. Professor McGonagall knew we had sex! I mean if we had it when we were in our animagi forms she had to know that we engaged in that behavior as humans too!

"This has happened before you know. Two animagi of the same species engaging in sexual activities while in form. However, everything about the two of you in your forms is different from just two people with the same form. And there has never been a pregnancy that I have heard of."

"Well…my wolf form was in heat, Professor and it was the right time in my courses." I said anxiously.

Her brown wrinkled in thought, "I would think because of the changes your body goes through when changing that if a cub had been conceived, it would not survive the process of changing back into a human. If you start to have any symptoms of pregnancy I want the two of you to come here immediately and we'll have Madame Promfrey take a look at you, alright? I know that you probably are still worried, but because you two have been so extraordinary before I can't just rule out the possibility."

"Does that mean our child would be born a wolf?" Scorpius asked calmly, although the look on his face showed that he was just as freaked out by the prospect as I was.

"I'm sorry to say that I don't know Mr. Malfoy. If Rose does turn out to be pregnant we will find the answer to that question." Professor McGonagall replied. "Now you two best go home and get some sleep, you both look absolutely horrid."

I chuckled a bit at that, "Thank you Professor. I'll be sure to write soon either way."

Xxx

That night I went to bed early and stared up at the ceiling in thought. What if I had conceived and the baby was a wolf not a human? When we changed did everything change within us, including eggs and sperm? If it did that would mean that the egg and sperm it took to make the baby would be of wolf form and therefore the baby would be a wolf! Could I even deliver it or carry it as a human? Would I have to stay changed throughout the whole pregnancy? How long did wolves carry their babies anyway? And of course there was the fact that wolves had multiple babies at once not just one!

"Rose, quit thinking." Scorpius stated as he entered the room from the bathroom and crossed the room to the bed.

"I can't."

"You need to get some sleep; there's nothing we can do about it now. For all you know you may not even be pregnant and all of this worry will have been for naught." He said as he slid into bed and curled himself around my body protectively.

"I have no idea how I am going to function until I know for sure." I sighed.

"You will; you're Rose Weasley."

I chuckled at that because I knew he was right. Somehow I would push all of these thoughts from my mind and do my job even if I was sleep deprived and anxious as hell.


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving! And if you don't celebrate Thanksgiving I hope you had a good weekend! Anyway, instead of making you wait until the end of the week I decided to go ahead and post this tonight. Thanks again to all of the reviews and alerts; I really appreciate them!**

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I had been having a nice dream about pumpkin pasties and sugar quills when suddenly I woke up. It was a Saturday morning and from the faint amount of light shining in through the window I could tell that it was still very early. Not my ideal way to start my Saturday. A quick glance to my left showed that Scorpius was still sound asleep, completely unaware of me as he faintly snored.

That's when my stomach roiled and I instinctively moved to go to the bathroom. As I knelt down in front of the toilet and lifted the lid I realized that not only had it been about a month since what we had termed 'the full moon incident' but I had yet to have my period.

"Oh Merlin." I moaned right before my stomach heaved and what was left of my dinner from the night before left my stomach and took up occupancy in the toilet bowl. And that's when the tears started.

A few heaves and minutes later Scorpius stumbled into the bathroom, rubbing his eyes sleepily, "What's going on Rosie?"

"I haven't had my period yet and I'm barfing in the morning, Scorpius! I'm pregnant."

That seemed to wake him up.

"Hang on a second; you don't know that for sure. Why don't you take a nice shower while I go and get dressed and we'll head on over to the castle like McGonagall told us and have Madame Promfrey check you out."

"Okay; you better write Professor McGonagall first though."

"Will you be okay?"

I nodded and slowly stood up. A shower really did sound nice at the moment, but I knew that it wouldn't cure the anxiety I could already feel curling in my stomach. As if I needed more to get my stomach roiling after that bought of throwing up.

Two hours later saw us at Hogwarts in the Hospital Wing with Madame Promfrey and Professor McGonagall. Thankfully Madame Promfrey had already been filled in on the situation prior to our arrival and had had a bed and everything set up in the privacy of her office by the time we arrived.

"So today was the first of the symptoms?" She asked as she pulled her wand from her robes.

"Yes, and I realized that my period should have come by now."

"I see. Well, I'll do some basic tests to determine whether you are pregnant or not and then we'll go from there."

I looked anxiously at Scorpius then and he met my gaze with a reassuring look and grabbed my hand within his.

Madame Promfrey ran her wand around my stomach, said a spell and two rings of white surrounded my belly.

"Well, it would seem that you are pregnant dear." She explained. "And the two rings indicate two fetuses."

"Twins!"

"Well, you did say that the conception happened when you were wolves; they have multiple births. It's a miracle you don't have a few more in there. Now I am going to see if we can tell whether or not they are human."

Scorpius' hand tightened around my own as Madame Promfrey waved her wand and something similar to a muggle sonogram appeared in the air above my belly. I had seen sonograms before from watching muggle movies with my Mom; however, the quality of this one was a whole lot better. I could clearly see the two fetuses she was talking about, but I had no idea if what I was seeing was normal for human babies at this stage or not. Judging by the look on Scorpius' and Professor McGonagall's faces they had no idea either.

"It appears that they are normal human fetuses. Now we will have to monitor this pregnancy closely. Absolutely no changing into your animgai form—"

"Poppy, shouldn't we see if the fetuses change with her?" McGonagall suggested. "It seems to me that they are able to survive a change otherwise they would have been aborted when she changed back into her human form." She then turned her attention to the two of us, "Now…there is no chance that they were conceived normally?"

I shook my head, "No, it had to have been that night. We always use a contraceptive spell."

"Well, if Mr. Malfoy and Miss Weasley are agreeable to it, let's have her change and I can examine the babies from within her wolf form."

I turned my gaze to Scorpius. There was a chance that I could abort the babies by changing, however McGonagall was right; wouldn't they have already been aborted that first night if that were the case?

"Do it." Scorpius urged.

I nodded and got off of the examination bed. Of course Scorpius had to change with me so on the count of three we both changed into our animagi in front of the two old ladies.

"Alright Rose, if you would come here, I'll run the same test."

With that said the sonogram appeared above me once again and we all waited while Madame Promfrey examined it closely.

"Amazing." She breathed. "They've changed with her!"

The two of us quickly changed back and turned anxious faces to McGonagall and Promfrey.

"What does this mean?" Scorpius asked.

McGonagall smiled, "I would hazard a guess that they are already animagi. Of course we can't know anymore than that until they are born. But judging from what we've seen I'd say it's safe to say that this will be a regular pregnancy. And although you can change; I'd advise against it in case you find yourself having the babies wolf style."

"No problems there."

Xxx

"We're going to be parents." I breathed in amazement as we stumbled back into our town house.

"Your Dad is going to kill me."

"I've got to tell my Mom about this!"

Scorpius stopped me with one of his trademark Malfoy looks, "Not yet. Have you heard of Gretna Green, Rose?"

"I think I read about that place is some muggle romance novels, why?"

"Pack your bags because we're going to wizarding Gretna Green to elope."

"You can't be serious."

"Dead serious."

"Our parents will be furious!" I protested.

"I think they'll be less furious than if they find out I've gotten you pregnant with animagi twins before marriage!"

"But no one will be there to see us get married."

Malfoy quirked a brow, "Did you really want to go through the long painful process of getting our parents to agree on wedding arrangements?"

"Well, not really. And I am already going through enough wedding stuff with Carmen…but wait! Carmen would be so angry not to know!"

Scorpius looked thoughtful for a minute and ran a hand through his hair, "Alright, we'll take Carmen and Derek to be our witnesses. I'm sure they can keep their mouths shut about the circumstances until the time is right to let everyone know."

"Great, I'll go start packing for the two of us!"

"I'll floo the two of them."

Xxx

No one was more surprised than Carmen had been after Scorpius and I had explained the entire situation to she and Derek when they had arrived with bags packed a mere half hour after Scorpius had made the floo call. They had been just as shocked as we had been, but once they got over the weird circumstances they were ecstatic. Besides… they really couldn't throw stones when they lived in a glass house themselves.

"Our babies will grow up together and be in the same year at Hogwarts, Rose!" Carmen said excitedly as she zipped up the dress I had found at the back of my closet for our ceremony. The dress was something Carmen had made me buy months ago for some work party, however I had ended up not going to the party leaving this cream colored strapless dress in the back of my closet with the tags still attached.

"It is pretty amazing…I just hope they turn out alright considering…"

"Don't even worry about it, Rose. We'll deal with whatever may happen after they're born, but I'm pretty sure that any offspring sired by Rose Weasley and Scorpius Malfoy will be bloody brilliant and healthy. If not a bit gifted. Now, let's go get you married."

Thinking about it, I guess I had never really been the girl who had dreamed of her wedding. Of course I had thought about it a time or two as I helped Carmen plan her own wedding, but I never had a certain desire for it like Carmen did. So as I took my place besides Scorpius in front of the official, I felt very at peace and happy with what we were about to do.

The ceremony seemed to fly by and before I knew what was happening, Scorpius was leaning in for a kiss as the official pronounced us wizard and witch. When Scorpius pulled away he was beaming and turned his happy smile onto our two best friends who were cheering and clapping in the background.

"This is monumental you know." Derek stated with a smirk. "A Weasley just became a Malfoy."

Scorpius chuckled, "I'll do you one better; there's two kids in there," he began with a gesture towards my belly, "that are half Weasley and half Malfoy. This of course means that they will be the first Malfoy children that are not pure bloods."

"Change is good." Carmen added. "Besides, you British pure bloods were starting to get a bit inbred."

Typical Carmen.

Xxx

After many hours of celebrating with Carmen and Derek, Scorpius and I made our way to the honeymoon suite he had booked for us at the biggest and most expensive hotel in wizarding Gretna Green. I would have been happy with just going home, but Scorpius insisted and bribed me with the prospect of a Jacuzzi as well as room service.

"Well, Mrs. Malfoy what should we do first? Order room service or take a dip in the Jacuzzi?"

I smirked, "I say that we order some ice cream and then eat it while in the Jacuzzi."

Scorpius nodded his agreement and while he went to work on that I stripped off my clothes and got into the Jacuzzi naked. Not only did I not have a bathing suit with me, but this was my husband and I was not about to be shy about my nakedness. Up until this point I had been pretty embarrassed about my nakedness outside of bed even after he had spent a long time seeing everything. Scorpius found it all funny and meanwhile had no trouble parading around naked in front of me. So, it was time to change that; especially now that we were married and I was expecting his twins!

A little while later Scorpius came into the bathroom carrying two bowls of ice cream. He handed me the first and then, noticing my nakedness, smirked and shed off his clothes before he joined me with his own bowl of ice cream.

"Well, it seems I've already discovered one perk of being married." He grinned and took his first bite of ice cream. He looked thoughtful as he ate and then lifted his eyes to mine, suddenly serious. "I know I haven't said it before, but I've felt this way for a long time now. I love you Rose; more than anything or anyone in this world besides those twins growing inside of you."

Of course me being the emotional person I was in this state of pregnancy, felt tears come to my eyes. Although I was pretty sure his words would have had this affect on me anyway, pregnant or not.

"I love you too."

Xxx

Unfortunately the two of us were not able to get a few days off of work for an extended honeymoon on such short notice, so the next day we returned home. Scorpius insisted that we apparate on the doorstep and once the two of us had landed he turned to me with a smirk.

"I saw on a muggle movie that the man is supposed to carry his bride over the threshold of their home."

"You'll hurt yourself!" I protested.

He quirked a brow at me, "I am not a weakling. Besides it won't take me that long to get you over the threshold."

With that said he threw the door open and quickly scooped me up into his arms to carry me inside the house. The two of us were laughing as he sat me down in the entrance hall, but our laughter immediately died out when the two of us heard the sound of voices coming from our living room.

"Scorpius? Rose? Is that you?" We heard his Mom ask.

"Of course it is, Astoria." His Father replied.

"We've been waiting here all morning; so get in here!" My Dad called.

"Ronald! Honey, if you and Scorpius could come in here we would like to talk to the two of you."

Scorpius and I looked at each other in panic. We knew that eventually we would have to tell our parents everything, but we weren't expecting it to happen so soon! We weren't prepared! If I had known our parents were going to show up, I would have insisted we stay up and think of things to say instead of staying up so late engaging in another more pleasurable activity.

"Let's do this." Scorpius stated and grabbed my hand.

Xxx

The first thing I noticed was that our parents did not look too pleased with the two of us. My Dad's face had the familiar flush that was associated with red heads when they're angry and Mr. Malfoy had a look on his face like he had just smelt something foul. Thankfully our Mothers didn't look as visibly upset.

"Scorpius, what were you thinking getting married without your Father and I?" Mrs. Malfoy shrieked.

Okay…so apparently looks were deceiving in her case.

"How did you find out so quickly?" Scorpius asked instead of answering her question.

"As a Malfoy you shouldn't have to ask that son." Mr. Malfoy replied. "I have a friend who operates the hotel you stayed in and he thought I would be interested in knowing that my son had come to elope."

"Well, that's not all we have to tell you." I finally said.

"Did you get my daughter pregnant you piece of-"

"Ronald!"

"Everyone just sit down and calm down and Rose and I will fill you in on everything that has been going on lately. But before we begin I would like to state that we are adults and are very capable of making our own decisions."

As usual when Scorpius raised his voice, everyone obeyed. He was just naturally commanding and if I was being honest…it turned me on a bit at times. Of course it wasn't appropriate to be turned on by this in front of our parents, but I couldn't help myself. I blame the pregnancy hormones.

"I will be honest with you Mr. Weasley, yes I did get Rose pregnant, but it is a bit more complicated than that." Scorpius began. "You all know about our animagi situation. Well, after a long spell of not changing we went out to change and well… nature took over."

"What?" My Dad asked in confusion.

"That means they engaged in intercourse in their wolf forms." My mother whispered to him, a red tinge staining her cheeks as she did so.

Scorpius then went on to explain everything that had happened afterword with Professor McGonagall and finally Madame Promfrey which led us to running off to wizarding Gretna Green to get married. When he was finished nothing but silence filled the room for a very uncomfortable five minutes until finally:

"Twins?" Mrs. Malfoy asked hopefully.

I nodded my head in reply and watched as tears of happiness filled her eyes before she jumped up and wrapped both Scorpius and I in her arms.

"Oh, I always wished I could have had more children!" She cried.

My Mom then decided to join the hug session, "These babies are going to be extraordinary! Born as animagi? I can't wait until they come into the world and we'll know for sure."

Our fathers, however, remained unmoving in their respective seats. My Dad looked completely bewildered and Mr. Malfoy looked like he was thinking. Finally he stood and clapped Scorpius on the back.

"The first Malfoys that will not be pure blooded. At least they'll go down in the history books if they can't have that."

It was the best we could hope for from him.


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Thanks again to all who review and put the story on alert! Just to let you guys know, this story has a few chapters left. However, I don't know how fast I will be getting them up; this coming week is my last week of regular classes and then its finals week. I'm pretty sure I'll have posted the rest of the story before Christmas, and after Christmas make sure to look out for a new story I'll hopefully be posting.**

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Thanks to a little magic, Carmen's baby belly didn't show at all in her wedding dress. Her belly wasn't that big yet at this stage, but if her dress had been a bit tighter around the middle it would have been obvious that she was pregnant. Thankfully I didn't have to worry about my belly too much in my bride's maid dress. Although I was three months pregnant, I wasn't showing much even with twins growing in there.

It also helped that only a handful of people knew about my pregnancy even though our marriage had been front page news. Of course there were a variety of theories of why we had run off to Gretna Green, but surprisingly most of them had to do with our families' past, not the possibility of a pregnancy. Of course when the twins were born everyone would know the truth. Not that we cared.

Carmen looked absolutely radiant as she took her place next to Derek and repeated the words that sealed them as husband and wife forever. After the ceremony was over we all headed over to the Zabini manor house where the reception was set up inside the ball room.

The ballroom was decked out in navy blue and silver; a compromise of their two house colors. Stars glittered on the magically enchanted ceiling and every few seconds they configured to spell Carmen and Derek encased by a heart.

"Do you regret not having this?" Scorpius asked as he slid an arm around my waist.

I shook my head, "It's nice, but all the planning that went into this would have been too stressful." I replied.

"You look beautiful." He smiled and leant down to kiss my forehead.

My dress was a navy blue strapless dress that cinched in at the waist and flared out at the hips. Paired with the pair of sexy silver high heels Carmen had picked out for me; I felt as beautiful as everyone always claimed I was.

"I like your hair like this." Scorpius whispered in my ear. "You had your hair this way at the ball seventh year and it about drove me crazy. I wanted to run my fingers through it."

"You did not!" I laughed quietly, not wanting people to overhear this conversation.

"Of course I did. You are beautiful. However, fortunately for me I will be able to act out my fantasies with you now, when I was left with only my dreams back then."

"Scorpius!"

He chuckled and leaned in to seal my lips with a quick yet passionate kiss. Ever since our wedding he had become quite randy. Maybe it was the magic of knowing that we had created two lives together, or the fact that we had finally connected our magic at our wedding ceremony. It was something that Circinius had written about and we both knew that it was something we should do also. Connecting our magic didn't hinder either of us and we were both able to perform magic independently as always, but now we casted spells with our combined power.

"People are watching us you know." I told him as he kissed my neck.

"Let them watch; we're married."

Luckily before Scorpius could embarrass me further, Carmen and Derek entered the ball room and everyone's attention turned to them. After that we were swept up in dinner being served which thoroughly distracted Scorpius.

After Carmen and Derek shared their first dance they opened the floor up to everyone else. Carmen immediately came and grabbed my hand before Scorpius could get a hold of me and dragged me out to the dance floor as one of her favorite Weird Sisters' songs played.

"You and Scorpius look pretty cozy. Married life is certainly treating you well." Carmen chuckled.

I blushed at that, "Is it that obvious?"

"What? That you're having amazing sex every night with one of the sexiest guys alive? Yes."

"Shut up. Does it really?"

Carmen laughed, "Only because I know you so well, Rosie. Why should you care anyway? You're married and happy."

"Well I don't want my Dad to be able to tell how satisfied I am."

Carmen laughed. "True. But you're pregnant and unless he thinks a stork is going to bring those babies he'll figure it out."

I laughed at that because that was exactly how my parents had told me about babies when I was an inquisitive six year old. I hadn't believed a word of it and my Mother had given in and explained that babies grew in Mommy's bellies. But I had had to wait for the rest of it until I turned thirteen.

"When are you going to tell your family about your pregnancy?" I asked quietly.

While the list of people knowing about her baby had grown by one when Scorpius had found out, no one in Carmen's family knew yet.

"When we get back from our honeymoon. I'll be showing by then so there'll be no way around it." Carmen replied. "I'm not worried about what they'll say. They've had eight kids and I know for a fact that Mama was pregnant with me when they were married."

"Just promise me something, Carmen." I began. "Don't have eight kids."

"You don't have to worry about that Rose. I've already had this conversation with Derek. After a certain number of kids he's going in for that muggle procedure whether he likes it or not."

I laughed at that even though I knew that Carmen would get her way. She could be scary when she wanted to. Mostly that was when she started screaming at you in Spanish…it wasn't so scary for me now that I knew most of the language but I was pretty sure Derek hadn't picked up much Spanish yet.

"What are you smirking about, Rose? You look like a Slytherin."

"A hazard of being married to one." I shrugged. "I was just thinking about your all Spanish tangents."

Carmen smirked evilly, "He's already experienced one of those and it was bloody brilliant for me. I had a Slytherin, a Slytherin Rose, in my hands like putty!"

"Obviously we need to break this up before you two give each other ideas about us." Derek said as he and Scorpius approached the two of us.

Of course just then a slow song started to play and with a brief smile to Carmen I let myself be led away from the newlyweds to a different part of the dance floor where Scorpius pulled me into his arms.

"What do you say we leave after this song and head home to bed?" Scorpius whispered in my ear, sending chills of desire down my spine.

"I think that no one will miss us." I replied with a smile.

Xxx

"So, do you want to know the gender of your twins or not?" Madame Promfrey asked.

I was now about five months pregnant and so far Scorpius and I had held off on finding out the twins' gender. Mostly it was because the two of us couldn't agree on whether or not we wanted to. We already knew that they weren't identical thanks to Madame Promfrey, which meant that we could have any sort of combination in there. Scorpius wanted to know so we could plan accordingly, but there was a part of me that wanted a surprise.

"He wants to know, but I don't." I replied.

Madame Promfrey smiled, "Well then, no one gets to know. Everything looks well with them; nothing amiss considering their start in the world. Continue to take your potions and I'll see you guys next month."

After Madame Promfrey left, Scorpius helped me off of her examination table and grabbed my hand in his.

"I still don't understand why you of all people don't want to be properly prepared for the birth of the twins." Scorpius said with a smirk.

"Hey! I like to be surprised sometimes." I protested. "Besides, I just think it'll be magical to hear in that moment what they are."

Scorpius was quiet as he considered that and then looked down at me with a smile, "I guess you're right. That means we'll just have to paint the nursery green or something."

"No green or blue in the nursery. I was thinking pale yellow. Not only is it gender neutral but it is also house neutral."

"No its not! Yellow is Hufflepuff color!"

"House neutral between the two of us." I clarified. "And its pale yellow, Scorpius. There's a difference."

"Whatever you say."

"Good, because your Mother and I have already agreed and she probably already has a crew in there working on it."

Scorpius sighed, "Knowing Mother, yes."

After we arrived back at home the two of us went our separate ways. I had taken a long extended leave from work, wanting to concentrate on home life, so instead I was on my way to Carmen's while Scorpius returned to work. Scorpius had urged me just to quit work completely, but it was comforting to me to know that I had job waiting for me when I decided to return. Although, I had to admit that it might be a few years before I did so. In the mean time I had promised to continue some research from home.

Upon arriving at Carmen and Derek's house, I found Carmen in her kitchen eating straight from the chocolate ice cream bucket. She was seven months pregnant and had the craziest cravings I had ever heard of if the pickles and hot sauce sitting on the counter along with the chocolate ice cream were any indication.

"What's with the hot sauce?" I asked causing her head to snap up in attention.

"It tastes good with chocolate ice cream, Rosie, I promise! You have to try it!"

I scrunched my nose up in distaste as she squirted some of the hot sauce into the carton of ice cream. Hopefully Derek wasn't hoping to get any of that ice cream. If she left any for him it would be coated in hot sauce.

"I think I'll pass. I will, however, take a pickle."

"Be my guest." She gestured before she put another spoonful of chocolate hot sauce ice cream in her mouth. "You know my Mother is convinced this hot sauce kick is my child asserting its Spanish blood."

I laughed at that because I knew how much Carmen's Mom liked hot peppers.

"Anyway, I'm sure you're ready to go pick out baby stuff. Let me clean up and then we'll go." Carmen said as she started to put away what was left of the food.

I had to contain my laugh when she put the hot sauce laced chocolate ice cream back into the freezer; poor Derek would never know what was coming to him when he went for a sweet treat. I would have to ask Carmen about it later.

An hour later found the two of us in the Bouncing Baby Boutique on Diagon Alley. The boutique was said to have everything a magical baby needed; from a self moving mobile to a self cleaning odor free nappie dispenser. The latter was definitely on the list; both Scorpius and I were gaggers when it came to bad smells.

"We don't need to get a lot. Just the things we haven't already gotten from family. His parents are not only decorating the nursery but purchasing the cribs and all the furniture for the babies. And my Mother already went out and bought a whole bunch of baby clothes along with Mrs. Malfoy."

"In other words you need the practical, non cute stuff." Carmen laughed. "That's exactly what happened to us."

"You know muggles have things called showers where people buy baby stuff for you." I said. "My Mom had one for me thrown by my Grandma Granger, but no one saw it fit to throw me one."

Carmen nodded her head sympathetically, "It would have gotten pretty confusing with your muggle and wizarding family."

"True and it's not like I can't afford to buy this stuff."

We walked around for a while filling up all the necessary items needed to raise a baby these days. Then we came across those self moving mobiles that they advertised.

"You have to get one of these! Derek insisted we get one and it was a great decision. We tried it the other night and it is simply amazing. It entertained Derek for an hour, so think of how long it will entertain a baby!"

With that said I quickly picked out two mobiles and placed them with the rest of my stuff.


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

******This will probably be the last update for a while. Not only do I need to start doing some serious studying for my exams, but my back has been killing me which makes sitting in front on my computer low on my priority list unless its school related and even then its painful!** **Thanks again for the reviews and alerts, they're what have convinced me to sit here, my back hurting, and post this tonight.**

* * *

As the daughter of Hermione Granger I had learned quite a few things. Of course many of my mother's rules stemmed from the lack of personal hygiene my father had had when they were teenagers and had carried on into my brother. However, her most important -non hygiene- rule was to always be prepared. Sadly Hugo did not learn any of my Mother's rules, especially this one. But of course I excelled at this one.

I can still remember the days leading up to my first day at muggle school. I was only about five years old, yet I remember watching as many muggle movies about school I could get my hands on and scouring my mother's bookshelves for hours on end. Because of this I was saved quite a few humiliations. Hugo, on the other hand, was very unprepared on his first day of muggle school. By the time recess rolled around he already was known as the weird Ginger haired kid. Meanwhile I pretended I had no idea who he was.

So of course it was only natural that I was preparing myself just as well for my impending delivery and motherhood. So far I had read every book imaginable in both the muggle and wizarding worlds about delivery and rearing of twins. I had also picked my Grandma Weasley's brain about bringing up twins. After that interview I was grateful that I was not having identical twins after hearing about the antics my Uncles had made her suffer through.

Then I had moved onto the muggle videos of child birth. I had been scarred for life with those. However, it had been hilarious when Scorpius walked into the middle of "The Miracle of Life" and proceeded to freak out and swear he was not looking anywhere near there when I delivered our twins. I was glad; I thought it was disgusting myself and could not understand why some women want to watch in a mirror. As far as I was concerned the miracle could begin when both babies were out of me.

The last thing I needed to be prepared for was the naming of the babies. However, that was something that I could not prepare for by myself. Neither was the rearing of babies. Of course I had shared many of my opinions on child rearing with Scorpius and for the most part he had agreed with me. The only thing we really had an argument about was whether or not to send our children to muggle school before Hogwarts. I, of course, was for it. He was not. But we had plenty of time before we had to decide. Picking out names was something we couldn't wait on.

As a girl I had been thinking about what I wanted to name my children for a long time, so I already had some basic ideas. But I didn't consider that Scorpius would want to keep with the tradition of naming his child after a constellation.

"There has to be some pretty constellation names that aren't too weird." Carmen said as we both flipped through books. "Here's a good one! Pegasus!"

I arched a brow at her, "No, that just reminds me of the winged horse."

"Perseus? You could call him Percy?"

"I have an uncle named Percy."

"Oh yeah. Well, what do you have on your list?"

"For a boy, Caelum. For a girl I have Ara, Auriga and Carina."

"I think that's a good number. What are the other names you had picked out before this whole constellation business became a factor?"

"I'd rather not tell you since you're about to deliver a baby and have no name picked out." I replied easily.

She sighed, "Fine, I see how it is. I see you're not worried about me taking one of these constellation names."

I chuckled, "You'd forget how to spell them."

"Not true!" She protested and threw the book down on her coffee table. I put mine down on top of hers and when I turned back to Carmen her hand was resting on her lower back and she had a look of pain on her face.

"Are you having contractions?"

"Maybe." She said meekly.

"Carmen! How long has that been happening?"

"A few hours, but they're not bad and it's not like my water has broke."

Of course those were her famous last words as her water broke all over pants and chair. Moving as quickly as I could with my seventh month twin belly, I grabbed some floo powder and made a quick call to St. Mungos, Derek, and Scorpius. Then I dried Carmen with a wave of my wand and waited for Derek to arrive to take us both to the hospital. It was dangerous for both of us at our stages of pregnancy to use the floo network, let alone apparate. So we would have to be driven.

Derek arrived in record time and ushered the two of us into the car before he sped off towards downtown London to where St. Mungos was located. When we arrived they already had a crew ready to take Carmen away to the birthing rooms and once she and Derek disappeared around the corner I sat down with a sigh on one of the cushioned waiting room chairs.

"How's Carmen?" Scorpius asked as he approached where I sat in the chair.

"They just took her back, but it'll probably be a while before the baby actually comes; her water just broke."

"How about you? Do you feel alright? You're getting too big to be running around like this." Scorpius said as he took the seat next to me.

"I'm fine although it would be great if the babies would quit kicking me right now. They must hear your voice."

Scorpius smiled and placed both of his hands on my burgeoning belly where both of our children were pummeling my insides in excitement over hearing his voice. Lately they had been doing that whenever Scorpius was round, especially after we had been apart for a while. My theory was they could sense his magic and knew he was their father, not to mention I was pretty sure they recognized his voice.

"Pretty soon it'll be the two of us in that birthing room." He grinned.

I was about to reply when Derek came into the waiting room looking extremely anxious.

"Carmen wants you with her until I can get her Mom here." Derek said. "There's a chair by her bed so you don't have to worry about being on your feet for too long."

Scorpius took his hands from my belly and smiled reassuringly at me as I stood up and made my way to the birthing room behind Derek. When I reached Carmen she was sweating and panting her way through another contraction.

"Rose! Thank Merlin you're here! Derek, hurry and get me my Mama!"

I hurried to her side and grabbed one of her sweaty hands in mine. It wasn't too long after that that another contraction hit her and with it her Spanish side took over.

"¡Dios Mío! ¡Necesito mi mama!"

"I'm sorry Carmen Derek is getting her, don't worry. I'll be with you as long as you need me."

Carmen smiled weakly, "Gracias, Rose."

I chuckled, "No problem."

In the next few minutes it became apparent that Carmen's baby was going to come whether or not its father or its grandmother was there to comfort its mother. That left me in the passenger seat, getting a nice preview of what was in store for me in a little while… times two. Even though I was terrified, I pulled it together and let my best friend squeeze my hand and yell in my ear in Spanish as she brought her child into the world.

When the baby's cries filled the room both Carmen and I looked at each other, our eyes filled with tears.

"It's a girl." The healer announced proudly before she took the baby to be cleaned and weighed.

"Carmen, you did it!" I laughed as the two of us cried tears of joy. "You have a beautiful baby girl."

"Thank you Rose, for sticking with me through this."

"Don't even worry about it. You're my best friend."

"And that's your God daughter over there…if you want."

I smiled brilliantly at that as the healer brought the baby to Carmen. Carmen smiled as she took her baby girl in her arms and the two of us both looked down into her red, wrinkly face.

"Of course I want her as a God daughter."

"You hear that Roselyn? Your auntie Rose is also your Godmother."

"Roselyn?"

Carmen smiled, "I just came up with it."

"I love it."

"Derek won our bet you know. I thought we were having a boy."

"Do I even want to know what the stakes were?" I asked cautiously.

"Let's just say that whenever he decides to cash in I might find myself in the same position in nine months."

Xxx

After experiencing the birth of my Goddaughter I was filled with an even greater urge to prepare. However, this time I knew that a lot of it had to do with my nesting instinct since I was so close to delivery. There was a lot to prepare for with twins, especially twins that may well be pretty special considering how they were conceived. Madame Promfrey was to deliver them because of this, which meant instead of birthing in St. Mungos I would go to Hogwarts to deliver my babies.

I was also renewed with the desire to have names squared away for the big day, but that required cooperation on the part of my husband.

A month had passed since Roselyn had been born and I had prepared Scorpius' favorite dishes for dinner to get him in a good mood for talking about baby names. I was hoping we could come to some sort of compromise over the whole matter.

So after buttering him up with Shepherd's pie and freshly baked pumpkin bread, I sat him down in the living room with my list of baby names.

"Okay, we need to get the names in order. I've made a list of constellation names I am willing to give to any children of mine. But I have also included the regular names I have always wanted to name my children."

Scorpius arched a brow as he accepted the list from me and looked it over.

"Maybe we should figure it out in terms of what genders the babies are. Like what do we name them if they're both boys or both girls or one of each?" Scorpius suggested. "If they're both boys they should both have a constellation name, but the girls I am willing to be flexible with."

"Oh, why is that? Because they won't be equal heirs?"

Scorpius shook his head, "No, I want all of our children to get a fair share no matter what order they were born in. I only say this because I hate the regular boy names you have on here. I rather like the girl names though."

"So if we have two boys we'll name them Caelum and Leo." I suggested.

"That sounds good to me and if we happen to have any more boys we can name them whatever you want."

I smiled, "Okay, and if we have both girls we'll name them Ara and Carina?"

"Are you sure?"

"If we give one girl a constellation name the other has to have one; they might get jealous when they're older."

"Alright. Now if we have one of each let's name the boy Caelum and the girl Carina."

"Well, I have to admit this went a lot easier than I had imagined."

"The Shepherd's pie and pumpkin bread helped." Scorpius grinned.

That's when I felt a strange sensation in my lower back. It felt a lot like the cramps I got monthly, however it was intensified which meant only one thing: these babies were coming tonight.

"Scorpius, floo Hogwarts."

"Why?"

"The babies are coming tonight."


	17. Chapter 17

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Okay, so I said I wouldn't update for a while, or at least not this soon after the last chapter, but thanks to the reviews I got calling me 'evil' for the cliffhanger, I decided to post. I didn't realize it was a cliffhanger until I was all ready to post it, so sorry :). Anyway, you can also thank the ice cream I indulged in that put me in such a generous mood and took my mind off of my back pain. (Thanks to those of you with well wishes...if only it was that easy for it to go away, but I have scoliosis so its an ongoing battle)**.

**Now I have a deal: If I get 10 reviews between posting this on Friday night at 8:00 P.M. EST and Saturday morning** **at 8:00 A.M. EST (or whenever I wake up and check my mail) I will post the last chapter left before the Epilogue on Saturday night. And maybe I'll feel generous enough after that to post the epilogue before I go home for break on Wednesday morning.**

**Thanks again for all of the reviews, alerts, etc.!**

* * *

Unlike many other soon to be parents, both Scorpius and I were calm and collected as we gathered my bag, made necessary calls and waited for my Dad to come in my Grandfather's new flying car. After hearing the story from my parents' second year at Hogwarts, I was skeptical with the flight plan at first, but there really was no other way to get me to Hogwarts fast enough to deliver the babies. Both apparating and the floo network were not a good idea for heavily pregnant women.

"Okay Ronald, try not to run into the Whomping Willow this time." My Mother said as she and Scorpius loaded me into the back seat of the car.

"That was ages ago!" Dad protested. "And I was twelve years old."

"You still act twelve sometimes." Mom muttered and moved to take a seat beside my Dad in the front. Meanwhile, Scorpius settled into the back with me and took hold of my hand.

"How do you feel?" He whispered as the car made its way into the dark night sky.

"I'm excited to see what kind of powers they will possess." I replied honestly. "And ready to not feel and look like a mountain troll."

Scorpius chuckled at that; he had already assured me many times that the more I blossomed with his children, the more beautiful I was to him. The practical part of me realized how corny that was, but the bigger romantic part of me loved it.

"I take it you called your parents, Scorpius?" Mom asked.

"Yes, they should be waiting by the time we get there."

Sure enough, after we had landed safely far away from the Whomping Willow, both Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy were waiting for the four of us inside the hospital wing. Madame Promfrey already had a section of the ward separated off for our privacy and was issuing orders to a house elf for hot water and rags. Professor McGonagall was also there waiting with Scorpius' parents, looking calm and collected, although I knew she was just as excited as I was to see what kind of power my children had.

"Look Draco, I told you that they would arrive safely." Mrs. Malfoy rolled her eyes at her husband as we entered the hospital wing.

Draco rolled his own eyes in response, "Excuse me for being worried about the lives of our son, his wife and our unborn grandchildren. Weasley has a reputation for driving flying cars into the Whomping Willow."

"That was one time! You make it sound like I did it all the time! And I'll have you know, Malfoy, that I was-"

"Enough. This night needs to be as easy and stress free as it can be for Rose." Madame Promfrey said as she took me by the arm and proceeded to lead me to the blocked off section of the ward.

While it was just the two of us, she helped me change out of my clothes and into a gown and then helped me into bed.

"Don't worry dear. One of the good things about being a witch is the numbing spell that has no adverse effect on the babies."

"Why didn't they give my friend Carmen that?" I asked curiously, remembering the pain Carmen had experienced while delivering Roselyn.

"Probably wasn't time for it or she elected not to have it done. Many do; want the whole experience they say. Let me tell you; you want this. You've got twins in there and this is not going to be an easy night even if you do take the numbing spell."

"Don't worry; I've already decided that I want it." I replied easily.

"Alright, let's check your progress and then I'll cast the spell."

Xxx

Unlike Carmen, I was able to have my Mother and my husband at my side throughout the whole birthing process while our fathers and his mother waited outside of the blocked off area. There was no way I wanted anyone accidentally seeing anything. I had already given my Mom and Scorpius strict instructions to stay up by my sides.

"Okay Rose, you're about to meet your first baby after you give me one more push."

I pushed for a moment when cries filled the silence of the hospital wing. I looked anxiously at the angry red bundle in Madame Promfrey's arms and felt my eyes fill with tears. My mother was openly sobbing next to me and when I looked up at Scorpius he was staring at our baby in awe.

"It's a boy." Madame Promfrey said proudly and rushed to clean him up before the next baby decided to come along.

After a minute my contractions started again and Madame Promfrey rushed to place my son in my Mom's arms before she got into place to deliver the second baby. With another push I felt the baby leave my body and waited for the cries to fill the wing. However, this time there was silence.

"What's wrong?" I cried frantically.

Scorpius' hand tightened around mine as we both stared at Madame Promfrey and the second baby anxiously. She didn't say a word, instead she slapped the baby on the butt and its cries tore through the wing just as its brother's had only a few minutes before.

"Not to worry; some babies just need a little startle to get those lungs going." She assured us. "You've got a beautiful baby girl to go with that son of yours."

Xxx

An hour later saw me with two babies at my breasts nursing. All of our parents and Professor McGonagall had paid their respects to me and the babies and had already apparated home, leaving Scorpius and I alone in the blocked off part of the ward together.

Despite the birth of our beautiful twins, there was an air of disappointment because it was too early to tell what kind of power the two of them possessed. The only thing Madame Promfrey's test revealed was their excellent health. We wouldn't know until there were magical outbursts like I had had as a small child when Hugo stole my toys.

"Caelum and Carina are powerful, Rose. I can feel it." Scorpius said suddenly. "Not that it matters; I would love them no matter what. Whether or not they are already animgai means nothing to me."

"Me too." I smiled. "But…"

"But you would love it if they were." Scorpius grinned.

"Well yeah." I chuckled. "But I'm happy no matter what."

And it was true. I would love it if my children were already animagi as that would give them a huge advantage over other children. However, I also realized that it would drastically set them apart from other children. I already knew that there was no way they were squibs; their magic had been palpable in my womb and it was only a matter of time before we started having mishaps around the house with the two of them.

Xxx

"This is so perfect Rose!" Carmen said excitedly as she placed Roselyn on the blanket next to Caelum and Carina.

It had been a month since their birth and during that month, the twins and I had been confined to the Hospital wing at Hogwarts with limited visitors. The twins had been born a month early and Madame Promfrey took every precaution to make sure that they were in the best condition possible before she released the three of us. That meant that each twin had to weigh seven pounds before she let us go.

So this was the first time Carmen had seen me and the babies since before I had delivered. In that time Roselyn had grown so much! Compared to my seven pound babies, Roselyn looked absolutely chunky!

"Why's that?"

"Carina and Roselyn will be the best of friends and then of course Roselyn and Caelum will obviously come to love each other from being around each other so often."

I rolled my eyes, "We'll see about that."

"Hmm… I seem to recall another prediction I made about you and Scorpius…"

"Carmen, fate decided that, not you."

"Well, Derek and I already made a wager about it. Even though it might take a long time to see who wins…it'll be worth it."

I shook my head, "You two will never change will you?"

Carmen chuckled, "I imagine we'll have to tame down the stakes when we get a little older, but otherwise no."

Xxx

As the months passed it became obvious who each of the twins looked like. Much to Mr. Malfoy's displeasure, Caelum had a full head of auburn hair like mine and Carina's hair was a lovely shade of strawberry blonde. My Dad, however, found it hilarious that his red headed gene had wiped out the unnatural shade of blonde the Malfoys had sported for centuries.

Besides the auburn hair, Caelum looked just like Scorpius had as a baby, complete with the same gray eyes. Shortly after the twins had been born Mrs. Malfoy had brought over a book filled with pictures of Scorpius from birth until he had graduated from Hogwarts. He had been a cute baby, with chubby cheeks and hair so pale that it hardly looked like there was any on his head. Carina, on the hand, looked like I had as a baby and my only hope was that she wouldn't inherit the frizzy hair I had from my Mom. Thankfully she had also inherited her father's gray eyes and not my plain brown ones.

Besides their looks, their personalities were quickly growing. Both babies were very smart, which was no surprise to anyone considering who their parents were. They were close and insisted on sleeping together at all times. It was so adorable to check on them while they were sleeping and see them curled up next to each other like they had been in my womb. However, it was easy to see that Carina was the leader of the duo, which very much reminded me of Scorpius who always seemed to be in control. I knew that when the two of them started to talk things would get extra interesting around the house.

At the moment I was in the kitchen making dinner. Scorpius had been having a difficult time at work so I decided it was time for Shepherd's pie and pumpkin bread yet again. The twins were playing in their play pin in the corner, making little gurgles now and then and laughing with each other.

"Uh oh…I hear my babies giggling! What's so funny? Are they laughing at Mommy again?" Scorpius asked as he walked into the kitchen.

I shot him a look at the reminder of the time I had tripped and fallen in front of the twins a week ago to which they had laughed at. Scorpius just grinned, gave me a peck on the cheek and headed over to the play pin where both babies were waiting eagerly for their father.

With extreme ease, Scorpius reached down and lifted each twin into an arm at the same time despite the heft they had put on lately. They were still only on a diet of breast milk, but they were sure packing it away and I could no longer pick them up simultaneously.

"Did you two help Mommy make my favorite dinner?" Scorpius asked after kissing both babies on the forehead.

He continued to talk to them until an odor that was not part of delicious dinner wafted about the room.

"Well Daddy, you can go change whoever that was while I set the table." I smirked as Scorpius inspected both of their diapers.

"Bloody hell, it's like they wait to poop until I'm home."

I chuckled and continued about my business while Scorpius left the room with the twins, muttering all the while. It was true; they could go the whole day without pooping, but when Scorpius came through the door they both had bowel movements. Nothing like taking pleasure in the simple things.


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Okay...so I feel really bad right now because I told a few of you I would have the rest of this story posted a lot sooner. However, some things happened that prevented that. On Sunday morning I woke up with a horrible stiff neck and since I still had two tests to study for and a paper to edit, the time I spent not nursing my neck was spent on those things. Monday went pretty much the same way and Tuesday I had to pack, take two exams, and drive 2 hours to get home. Anyway, after I get this chapter posted, I am going to edit the last chapter and post it. Thanks again to all who have reviewed, alerted, and stuck with the story, I appreciate it. Also, look out for a new story from me, although I can't say when I'll be posting it since I'm home and am reading books not assigned by professors instead of being on my computer.**

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**Three Years Later**

After what seemed like ages Scorpius and I were finally taking a vacation without the twins. The past three years had been full of mischief and mayhem only twins can cause and because there was some Weasley blood pumping through their veins it was even worse. My Grandma Molly told me I should be thankful they weren't identical and I was.

However all that mischief and mayhem had been caused without any magic. Both of our mothers told us not to worry since they were still under four years old, but I was worried. These were not ordinary non muggle kids. They were conceived under very unusual circumstances and both Scorpius and I had thought that by now we would have seen some sign of that. However, both of them stayed very human and displayed no magic. I knew they were powerful though; I had been able to feel it in my womb.

My worrying over their development was the main reason Scorpius insisted that we get away. I had been hesitant at first, I'd only ever spent a few nights away from my babies before and this was going to be a whole week. A whole week that we could be missing their first magical episode! Not only was there that to worry about, but Astoria and my Mom wanted to take care of the twins together, so they were both coming to stay at our house, which meant that both of our Dad's were probably going to come along as well. I just hoped my house was left standing when the week was over.

You'd think that after four years they would have learned to become civil to each other, but they hadn't. The only time they didn't bicker was when the twins were in the room, otherwise they didn't care.

"Rose, are you ready to go? Our Mom's are here with their reluctant husbands." Scorpius chuckled as he walked into our bedroom with Carina in his arms and Caelum walking along beside him holding his hand.

Carina was very much a Daddy's girl and boy did she have Scorpius wrapped around her finger. While Caelum had already decided he didn't like to be carried around unless tired or not feeling well, Carina took a ride whenever she got a chance, especially from Scorpius because he couldn't say no. Caelum was a bit more independent and apparently reminded my parents of me when I was his age. He already insisted on reading his bedtime stories at night even though he didn't know how to read quite yet. However, he had memorized all his favorite stories and was slowly learning how to read them while he recited them from memory.

"Yeah, are you sure this is a good idea?" I asked worriedly as I picked up Caelum despite his protests. While he squirmed in my arms, I held him tight and placed a kiss on top of his auburn head.

"Just let Momma give you a hug, Caelum. I'm not going to see you for a week?"

"Down!"

I sighed, "Fine, break your mother's heart."

Scorpius chuckled and passed Carina over to me. Although I'm sure she preferred being held by Scorpius she snuggled into my chest and allowed me to place kisses on her head unlike her brother. At that moment Mr. Malfoy appeared in the doorway by himself with two stuffed dragons in hand. One was purple the other blue.

"Look what Papa brought you." He smiled.

I was still amazed by the transformation that overcame him whenever he was in the presence of his grandchildren. There was no doubt that he loved them a lot, however he did spoil them a bit too much. So did Astoria.

"Papa!" Caelum yelled and ran over to cling to his leg, not even noticing the stuffed dragons in his hand.

"Where's Mother and Rose's parents?" Scorpius asked as we watched Caelum inspect the blue dragon Mr. Malfoy passed down to him after ruffling his hair affectionately.

"Your Mothers are settling into your guest bedrooms and Rose's Father is raiding the kitchen." He replied, saying the last part with a distasteful curl to his lip. "Now pass me that beautiful fairy you have captured Rose."

Carina laughed at his words and I handed her over to her Papa. I watched with a smile as she gave him a big kiss on the cheek and hugged the purple dragon close to her.

"Shouldn't you kids be leaving? We've got everything handled here."

I exchanged a look with Scorpius and went to shrink our luggage. After that was done and we had slipped our bags into our pockets we turned to look at our children who were too busy playing with their stuffed dragons to realize we were leaving.

"Let's go Rose, if they do realize we are leaving they won't be happy." Scorpius whispered and ushered me out of the room.

After checking in with our mothers and leaving last minute instructions we apparated to the Malfoy house located along the coast of Spain. Carmen's aunts lived nearby and had insisted on stocking the kitchen with food and some of their delicious dishes before we arrived. Sure enough the smell of peppers filled the air as I took in the vacation house.

Scorpius had never brought me here before even though his parents had owned this house for a decade now. Of course we had never really gotten a chance to vacation; our honeymoon had only been a few days so this was our honeymoon really.

"So you know what this means don't you?" Scorpius grinned as he turned to look at me.

"What?" I asked as I noticed the private grotto down the hill from the house.

"We can have all the sex we want without worrying about being interrupted!"

I rolled my eyes at this even though I was rejoicing at the prospect at the same time. There had been a period when the twins were still babies when they had slept the whole night through until about seven in the morning which meant Scorpius and I were free to do what we wanted at night. But now that they were older we had to remember to cast a muffilato and worry about if Carina would come in the room scared by a bad dream. Or if Caelum came in asking for a glass of water.

"It looks like we may even be able to have some fun in that grotto down there." I smirked.

"We could even change into our forms and go for a run, the wind in our fur."

"Well, what are we waiting for? I'm going to get in my swim suit and meet you down at the grotto."

Xxx

Even though Scorpius and I had managed to distract ourselves from worrying about the twins, I was eager to get home when we were readying our bags for the apparation. So as soon as we had landed inside our house back in England my eyes darted around my surroundings, looking for my babies.

"Mommy! Daddy!" Came two little cries in unison as they ran down the hall and into our waiting arms. Both were dressed in their favorite pajamas. The ones their great grandma Molly had made them that made them look like little dragons, with little spikes on their backs and everything. They were obsessed…thanks to Papa Malfoy.

"You guys look tan!" My Mother exclaimed as she and the rest of our parents walked into the hall where we were embracing our children.

Astoria grinned, "They look wonderful. Maybe that's what we need, Draco. A week at the house in Spain."

Mom and Astoria exchanged looks and actually started to giggle as both of their husbands blushed. I had seen my Dad blush loads of times; it was hard not to with that red hair. But Mr. Malfoy? I was embarrassed for him because I knew exactly what Astoria was hinting at.

"So how did the weekend go between Father and Ron?" Scorpius asked, quickly steering the conversation away from the topic of sex.

My Mother and Astoria exchanged smiles before Astoria turned to us with a grin, "Hermione and I decided to leave our husbands alone with the twins for one full day while we went out shopping. We still have not heard a full story of what all happened, but when we returned home we found the twins in bed, the house a wreck and the two of them were nursing fire whiskeys and cracking jokes together like old friends."

"I told you it was the fire whiskey!" My Dad protested.

"Sure." My Mom rolled her eyes.

It was amazing to see how over the years my situation with Scorpius had slowly brought our two families closely together, forgetting all that had happened in the past. Our mothers had easily become friends, but it had taken our fathers years! Which wasn't too surprising given how stubborn both of them were.

Xxx

A month later I discovered that our trip to Spain had accomplished much more than giving us tans and bringing our Fathers into a hesitant friendship. I was pregnant again and this time I knew that it was all completely human. While Scorpius and I had changed into our animagi and taken a run in the woods a few times, it had not been a full moon and we had mostly gone just before sunset.

I had told Scorpius as soon as I suspected it and a quick pregnancy spell that we had learned from Madame Promfrey confirmed that we would be having a third child. However, tonight was the night we were going to broach the subject with the twins.

Even at the age of three both Scorpius and I knew that they were smart enough to have some sort of idea what this news would mean to them. With all the cousins I had they had been exposed to many different babies and even enjoyed playing with them occasionally. But I was still nervous about it. The twins were pretty tight knit which made me worry about how this baby would feel when he or she was left out by the twins. When I told Scorpius he joked that we would either have to hope we were having twins again or have another soon after the third so they would have each other while the twins had each other. Neither were agreeable to me.

"Rose, they'll adjust. They're only three years old." Scorpius assured me as we walked into the living room where we had left the twins to play while we finished up cleaning from dinner.

Scorpius sat down in his rocking chair and didn't even get to say a word before Carina was in his lap, burrowing her face into his chest sleepily. I sat down on the couch and gestured for Caelum to come sit next to me. He did so and while he wasn't about to sit on my lap, he did snuggle up close to my side.

"Mommy and I have something important to tell the two of you." Scorpius began. "Mommy is going to have another baby in a few months, which means the two of you will have a little brother or sister."

Both twins stared at Scorpius in confusion. The room was absolutely silent as they continued to stare at him and then finally they turned to look at each other and all hell broke loose. The lights started to flicker, the books on the bookshelf shot off the shelves and on to the floor and the pictures hanging on the wall all fell down to the ground smashing the glass into thousands of pieces.

When it was over the two of them looked just as shocked as we did. It was the first time they had ever shown any sign of magic and I could tell they were a little alarmed by it. Scorpius and I, while upset that stuff had been broken, were ecstatic that they had finally displayed magic abilities. But we kept our cool.

"Does that upset the two of you?" Scorpius asked gently. "The fact that Mommy and Daddy are going to have another baby that will need a lot of our attention?"

The two of them nodded in unison.

"We will never love the baby any more or less than the two of you." I assured them, pulling Caelum closer to my side. "You'll always be our special babies. In fact, the two of you share something with Mommy and Daddy that the baby won't ever."

Scorpius shot me a look. We had no way of knowing if the twins could change yet, however because they had been able to change with me in the womb, I was ready to see if they could change now. Scorpius finally nodded and the two of us headed outside each with a twin in hand. After putting up proper concealment charms around our small backyard we each crouched down to the twins' level.

"Mommy and Daddy are animagi which means we can change into animals. However, we're special; we change into the same animal."

"Are you sure it's a good idea to change in your condition?" Scorpius asked in concern.

"You're right." I sighed trying to think of another way to spur the twins into changing. "Do you guys know what a wolf looks like?"

"Yes!" They chorused.

"Okay, I want you to think very hard about what a wolf looks like and then think about yourself becoming one." I urged them.

After a moment of giggling at the idea they turned and looked at each other with a look of concentration. With a pop Carina changed into a strawberry blonde furred pup right before our eyes followed by her auburn colored brother a few seconds later. Scorpius let out a whoop of excitement and picked me up and twirled me around a few times before setting me back down on the ground.

Before we knew it the twins were chasing each other around the yard, their excited barks piercing the silence of the night. Scorpius and I quickly cast a silencing charm on the yard before we turned our concentration back on our little pups.

I had never been as proud as I was in that moment. Not only had they both successfully turned but they had been able to do so by their selves without having to do it at the same time like Scorpius and I had to. Of course there was also the fact that they were able to focus their magical energy enough at the age of three to change in the first place!

"Well, I'd say we have some pretty magically gifted children on our hands, Rose." Scorpius grinned. "Before we know it we'll have three magically gifted children."

With that said he placed a gentle hand on my still flat belly and kissed my lips tenderly. I slipped my arms around him and laid my head on his chest.

"This baby won't be able to do that though." I sighed.

"So, he or she will have to learn to be an animagus the way we did. But that doesn't mean they won't be able to."


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: Anything you recognize I do not own.**

**Again thanks to all of you who reviewed, alerted, and stuck with this story!**

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**Fourteen Years Later**

As usual the sighs of my thirteen year old daughter could be heard all the way downstairs in the kitchen as she inspected the outfit I had laid out for her. Normally I would let her wear what she wanted, but lately that consisted of a weird look that seemed to be all the rage amongst girls her age at Hogwarts and I wasn't about to let her go to her brother and sisters' graduation looking like she was a homeless person.

"Mom!" She shrieked.

"Yes, Adelaide?" I called back.

Adelaide, or Addy as she was known to her family, was our third child and currently the bane of our existence. The twins had never gone through puberty as hard as she had. Of course that was probably because they had each other, Addy on the other hand was all on her own. Carmen and Derek's children were either too old or too young, leaving Addy as the awkward kid at all of our get togethers.

"There is no way I'm wearing this! It has flowers on it!"

"Grammy got that for you and it will make her so happy to see you in it today." I replied, yet again using my one bargaining chip with Addy. From birth Astoria and Addy had had a special relationship. With Adelaide, Scorpius and I had had no name picked out when I went into labor…in fact we had no idea that she was going to be a girl. However, as soon a she was born, looking very much like her fair haired grandmother, both Scorpius and I agreed to name our daughter after Astoria. Initially we had wanted to name her Astoria Hermione, but both of them had protested. Instead we had settled on Adelaide Jean, Adelaide being the name Astoria had always wished to name a girl and Jean as my mother's middle name. As Addy got older, Astoria always made sure to have special time with Addy separate from her older twin siblings and from that a special bond had formed.

"Fine." She sighed before slamming her bedroom door.

"Adelaide! No slamming doors!" Scorpius growled as he walked past her room towing our youngest by the hand towards the bathroom.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Your son decided to try out one of the gadgets your Uncle George gave him and it exploded everywhere. I've already cleaned his room, but he is another story."

Unfortunately we had not been able to have another baby right after having Adelaide. Not only was I exhausted from having a baby and two four year olds, but I had also suffered from a severe case of post pardum depression which put me off having another child for a long time. After Addy was four Scorpius and I both agreed that we were happy with the three children we had and didn't want to have anymore since Addy seemed to have adjusted well to life with her older siblings, but fate had other plans. A year later we had Leo and now at eight years old and looking like a total Weasley, he was quite a hand full. Unfortunately for us, he reminded everyone he met of my uncles Fred and George and even though there was only one of him, he more than made up for it.

"Oh, so now he's just my son?" I asked with a quirked brow.

"When he acts like a Weasley, yes."

A few hours later saw us at Hogwarts where Caelum and Carina would be graduating along with Carmen and Derek's daughter Roselyn. How the four of us made it to the ceremony on time I had no idea; between Addy's sighing and Leo's mischief it was a miracle. But we did make it with a few minutes to spare. Thankfully Carmen and Derek had saved us seats next to them and their two younger children. Their son, Riley was eleven and their younger daughter Katherine was eight just like Leo. Carmen had hopes for Katie and Leo, however I couldn't roll my eyes at her antics anymore in that regard. Proof of her success was right before my eyes as I glanced up to where the graduating students sat and caught sight of my son with his arm around Roselyn's shoulders.

Carina, on the other hand, was much too focused on her studies for relationships despite the fact that she had the attention of every boy in Hogwarts. I'd never seen Scorpius so relieved as the day when Carina announced to us a few years ago that she had no plans to even start dating until she was out of Hogwarts and well on her way to becoming a Healer. This was a relief to us because Caelum and Roselyn were engaged already with plans to marry in December. There was no doubt in my mind that I could be facing the possibility of becoming a grandmother in a year or two.

"And now we will have the top student of the year give a speech. Please give a round of applause as Carina Malfoy, head girl and proud member of the Ravenclaw house, makes her way to the podium." Professor McGonagall announced with a proud smile of her own.

"Thank you Professor." Carina smiled politely as she took Professor McGonagall's place at the podium. "As many of you know the circumstances surrounding mine and my twin brother's birth are extraordinary. Not only are we half Weasley and half Malfoy, we are the first Malfoy children not of pureblood, which I believe to be the sole purpose of our parents coming together. Through our birth generations of hatred between two families was changed. Of course it took time, but to look at our Grandfathers now, Draco and Ron, no one would ever believe that years ago when the second wizarding war was taking place they were bitter enemies. They now identify as friends and never in my life have I heard about pureblooded beliefs besides for what I have read by myself. That is why I am here to say that I am proud to be a representative for this class of people whose parents have all managed to put aside old prejudices and rivalries and have raised their children to reflect that. And that's why I believe my parents were meant to be together, to help two families in dire need of that kind of change."

Xxx

"Do you think she was right?" I whispered as Scorpius and I lay in bed later that night.

After a rowdy celebration at Malfoy Manner with all the Weasleys, Zabinis and Malfoys present we had finally come home at midnight exhausted. Thankfully both Leo and Addy had passed out quickly leaving us to talk to the twins for an hour before they decided to turn in.

"You mean about why we were fated to be together?" Scorpius asked. "It sounds like a better theory than the ones we came up with years ago."

"I guess it isn't a bad reason to be together, especially after watching our Fathers together tonight." I chuckled. "Tossing back butterbeers and bragging about their grandchildren as if they had always been the best of friends in the world."

Scorpius chuckled, "It is pretty funny if you think back to when they first found out about the two of us."

"Well regardless of why we were meant to be with each other, I love you." I said softly turning to face him and snuggling my face into the crook of his neck. Scorpius placed a kiss on the top of my head before pulling away so he could capture my lips with his own.

"I love you too, Rose. Always."

"Even if I'm a Grandma in a year or two?"

He chuckled, "Even then…wait do you know something I don't?"

"Relax," I laughed, "There's no baby yet, but Caelum is our son and Roselyn is Carmen and Derek's daughter. If Carmen has her way there will be a baby right away."

"Let's hope not; it feels like we just got Leo out of diapers."

I smiled, "Ah, but you see the joy of being Grandparents is that you can give the child back whenever you want."

"Very true, Mrs. Malfoy. However, I'll love you when you're old and wrinkly and a great great grandmother. But right now we are only thirty five and we still haven't celebrated quite as much as I would have liked to."

With a growl Scorpius pushed me onto my back and crawled over me quickly making me forget all about becoming a grandmother in the near future. Hell, making me forget about everything but him.

End


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